Local residents send sweets, notes to vacationing Pontiff

July 24, 2009

Father Aldo Armellin, the priest who serves as liaison between the residents of Les Combes and Pope Benedict while he is on vacation, told L’Osservatore Romano that area residents, while respecting the Pontiff’s desire for rest and privacy, send him trinkets, homemade sweets, and notes.

Father Armellin revealed that Pope Benedict will meet with some of the sick after Vespers at the cathedral in Aosta on July 24 and that Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi had originally asked the Pope to meet with local priests and religious. The Pope wished to meet with the lay faithful as well, and the majority present at Vespers will be laity.

This year is the third time Pope Benedict has vacationed in Aosta, Italy’s northwesternmost region; Pope John Paul vacationed there ten times.

 

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Further information:

• Intervista a don Aldo Armellin: Il Papa e la popolazione valdostana (L’Osservatore Romano)
• Pontiff to lead Vespers service in Aosta, near vacation home (CWN, Jul 23)