Departing at 12 am from Fiumicino airport for his eighth apostolic journey outside Italy, bound for the United States, waiting to land in Washington, the first stop in his trip to the USA, the Pope as the tradition goes, during any of the Pope’s over-flights sent a telegram to the president of the Republic of Italy, Giorgio Napolitano. "As I am leaving Rome to visit the United States of America and the UN this is the text of the telegram sent to the Quirinal by Benedict XVI , I am glad to send you, Mr President, my respectful greetings, which I accompany with my most fervent good wishes for the spiritual, civil and social wellbeing of the Italian people, to whom I am glad to give my blessing". After Italy, the Pope’s plane will fly over France and Ireland. It should land at the Air Force Base (The American President’s airport) at 4 pm (10 pm, Italian time). Benedict XVI will be received by the US president Bush and the "first lady".
