BENEDICT XVI: THE CALENDAR OF THE APOSTOLIC JOURNEY TO FRANCE (12-15 SEPTEMBER) (2)

The day after, on the esplanade of the Invalides, the Pope will say Mass at 10 am. In the afternoon, he will leave the Parisian capital for Lourdes. "During his stay in Paris – adds the release relayed also yesterday by the French Bishops Conference –, the Pope wishes to meet the leaders of the other Christian confessions and the delegates of the Jewish and Muslim communities". In Lourdes, the Pope will accomplish the first three stops of the Jubilee walk, and in the evening, to mark the end of the Marian procession, he will turn to the pilgrims. On Sunday 14th he will say Mass, and in the afternoon he will meet the French Bishops Conference. On Monday 15th he will carry out the last stop in the Jubilee walk and will give the Last Rites during a Eucharistic celebration. The Parisian archdiocese recalls that card. Ratzinger has gone many a time to this country. It mentions the speech the then cardinal gave in 1992 on the occasion of his admission as a foreign member of the Academy of Moral and Political Science; the conference called "The truth of Christianity" that he gave at the Sorbonne on November 27th 2000; and the conference he held as part of the "Lent of Notre-Dame de Paris" on April 7th 2001. Finally, he was sent by Pope John Paul II for the ceremonies of the 60th anniversary of the D-Day Landings in June 2004.