A visit to the Cathedral of the "Virgen de Los Desamparados" in Valencia; a courtesy visit to the King and Queen of Spain; a meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister. These are some of the dates that have been fixed in the official schedule published today by the Vatican Pressroom of Benedict XVI’s apostolic journey to Valencia (Spain) for the V world family meeting (8-9 July 2006). This is the Pope’s third journey abroad, after that to Germany for the XX WYD (18-21 August 2005) and the recent one to Poland (25-28 May 2006). According to the Pressroom, the Pope’s flight will depart from Fiumicino (Rome) for Valencia (Spain) at 09.30 am of Saturday 8th July; at 11.30 am, it will land at the airport of Manises (Valencia), where a welcome ceremony is to be held. At 1.00 pm, the Pope will visit the cathedral of Valencia, where he will give a message to the bishops; at 5.15 pm, he will meet the King and Queen of Spain; at 6.30 pm, he will meet the Spanish Prime Minister. The highlight of the day will be the festive and testimonial meeting (at 9.00 pm) for the closing of the V World Family meeting, with the Pope’s speech. Sunday 9th July will see the celebration of Mass at 09.30 am, followed by the Angelus prayer. On the same day, the Pope will return to Vatican city (landing in Ciampino, at 03.30 pm). According to the latest statistics about the state of the Catholic Church in Spain: out of a population of 41,954,000, the Catholics are 39,470,000.
