Pope’s pilgrimage to Loreto will be his 9th

October 01, 2012

On October 4, Pope Benedict will make a pilgrimage to Loreto to entrust to the Blessed Mother the upcoming Year of Faith and Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. On October 4, 1962, Blessed John XXIII made a similar pilgrimage to Loreto to pray for the success of the Second Vatican Council.

The Year of Faith, which begins on October 11, will mark the fiftieth anniversary of the opening of the Second Vatican Council and the twentieth anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

“This is not the first time that Pope Benedict has gone on pilgrimage to Loreto,” Father Federico Lombardi, the director of the Holy See Press Office, noted in his weekly editorial. “He has visited at least seven times as a cardinal, and already once before as Pope.”

“To the devotion of the Christian people, the Holy House of Loreto is the humble home of Mary and the Holy Family, a source of living memory of the Annunciation and the mystery of the Incarnation,” Father Lombardi continued. “Spiritually and symbolically, it is a very appropriate place to prepare oneself to live out a time of renewal in the mission of proclaiming the Gospel to the world today.”

“Beginning our journey with Pope Benedict, we, like Blessed John XXIII, humbly strive to relive the mystery and the joy of the Annunciation and the Incarnation of the Son of God, so that we can live the month of the Synod and a year of grace accompanied and encouraged by Mary, the Mother of Jesus and our Mother,” he added.

 

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Further information:

• Lombardi editorial: The Pilgrim Church is Marian (Vatican Radio)
• Vatican releases details of Pope's pilgrimage to Loreto (CWN, 9/20)