PROGRAMME OF BENEDICT XVI'S VISIT TO TURIN

VATICAN CITY, 20 APR 2010 (VIS) - On Sunday 2 May the Holy Father will travel to the Italian city of Turin for the exposition of the Holy Shroud, which began on 10 April and is due to last until 23 May.

  The Pope will depart from Rome's Ciampino airport at 8.15 a.m. on that day, arriving in Turin an hour later. At 9.45 a.m. he will meet with the local population in the city's Pizza San Carlo where, at 10.15 a.m., he will concelebrate the Eucharist then pray the Regina Coeli.

  At 1.30 p.m. he will lunch with bishops of the Piedmont region in the archbishopric of Turin before returning to Piazza San Carlo at 4.30 p.m. for a meeting with young people. At 5.30 p.m. Benedict XVI will visit the cathedral of St. John where he will venerate the Holy Shroud and, an hour later, travel to the church of the Little House of Divine Providence - Cottolengo where he will meet with sick people.

  The Pope's return flight to Rome is due to leave at 7.30 p.m., arriving at Ciampino airport at 8.30 p.m. whence a helicopter will carry him back to the Vatican.

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CARDINAL SPIDLIK, A GREAT MAN OF FAITH

VATICAN CITY, 20 APR 2010 (VIS) - This morning Benedict XVI delivered the eulogy at the end of the funeral of Cardinal Tomas Spidlik S.J., who died on 16 April at the age of 90. The funeral Mass was celebrated in St. Peter's Basilica by Cardinal Angelo Sodano, dean of the College of Cardinals.

  "The will of Jesus coincides with the will of God the Father and, along with the action of the Holy Spirit, represents a kind of secure, strong and sweet 'embrace' of man, leading him to eternal life", said the Pope.

  "I believe that the great men of faith live immersed in this grace, that they have the gift of perceiving this truth particularly clearly, and that they can thus undergo harsh trials, just as Fr. Tomas Spidlik did, without losing their trust; rather, they retain a sense of humour, which is certainly a sign of intelligence but also of inner freedom".

  Benedict XVI went on: "In this context, there was an evident resemblance between the late cardinal and the Venerable John Paul II: both were wont to make jokes though having suffered difficult, and in some ways similar, personal circumstances in their youth. Providence led them to meet and work together for the good of the Church, with the particular aim that she might learn to breathe fully 'with both her lungs', as the Slavic Pope liked to say.

  "This free and ready spirit had its objective foundation in the Resurrection of Christ", the Holy Father added. "The hope and joy of the risen Jesus are also the hope and joy of His friends, thanks to the action of the Holy Spirit. Fr. Spidlik demonstrated this regularly in the way he lived, and his witness became ever more eloquent with the passing of the years because, despite his advanced age and inevitable health problems, his spirit remained fresh and youthful. What is this, if not friendship with the risen Lord?"

  In choosing "ex toto corde" (with all my heart) as his motto, the cardinal placed "his life within the commandment to love, inscribing his entire existence in the primacy of love and of charity". The words "phos" and "zoe" (light and life) on the cardinal's coat-of-arms "are names of God", the Pope explained. "Thus the man who fully 'ex toto corde' accepts the love of God, accepts light and life, and becomes in his turn light and life in humankind and in the universe".

  Benedict XVI concluded his eulogy by recalling Cardinal Spidlik's membership of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits). "In other words", he said, "he was a spiritual son of St. Ignatius who placed the contemplation of God in the mystery of Christ at the centre of faith and spirituality. In this symbol of the heart, East and West come together, not in a devotional but in a profoundly Christological sense".

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ACTIVITIES AND TRIPS OF THE HOLY FATHER: MAY - SEPTEMBER

VATICAN CITY, 20 APR 2010 (VIS) - Following are highlights of the activities and trips due to be undertaken by Pope Benedict XVI between the months of May and September.

MAY

 - Sunday 2: Pastoral visit to Turin, Italy, for the exposition of the Holy Shroud.

 - Tuesday 11 to Friday 14: Apostolic trip to Portugal.

 - Sunday 23: Solemnity of Pentecost: Mass at 10 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica.

JUNE

 - Thursday 3: Solemnity of Corpus Christi. Mass at 7.00 p.m. in the basilica of St. John Lateran, procession to the basilica of St. Mary Major and Eucharistic blessing.

 - Friday 4 to Sunday 6: Apostolic trip to Cyprus.

 - Thursday 10: Prayer vigil with priests at 6 p.m. in St. Peter's Square.

 - Friday 11: Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. At 10 a.m. in St. Peter's Square, Mass for the close of the Year for Priests.

 - Sunday 20: At 9 .30 a.m. in the Vatican Basilica, priestly ordination of deacons from the diocese of Rome.

 - Monday 28: First Vespers for the Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul Apostles, at 6 p.m. in the Basilica of St. Paul's Outside-the-Walls.

 - Tuesday 29: Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul Apostles. Mass at 9.30 a.m. in St. Peter's Basilica and imposition of the pallium on new metropolitan archbishops.

JULY

 - Sunday 4: Pastoral visit to Sulmona, Italy, for the eighth centenary of the birth of Pope St. Celestine V.

AUGUST

 - Sunday 15: Solemnity of the Assumption. Mass at 8 a.m. in the parish church of St. Thomas of Villanova in Castelgandolfo.

SEPTEMBER

 - Sunday 5: Pastoral visit to Carpineto Romano, Italy, for the second centenary of the birth of Pope Leo XIII.

 - Thursday 16 to Sunday 19: Apostolic trip to the United Kingdom.
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OTHER PONTIFICAL ACTS

VATICAN CITY, 20 APR 2010 (VIS) - The Holy Father:

 - Appointed Bishop Thomas G. Wenski of Orlando, U.S.A., as metropolitan archbishop of Miami (area 12,836, population 4,299,000, Catholics 860,000, priests 397, permanent deacons 119, religious 415), U.S.A. The archbishop-elect was born in West Palm Beach, U.S.A. in 1950, he was ordained a priest in 1976 and consecrated a bishop in 1997. He succeeds Archbishop John C. Favalora, whose resignation from the pastoral care of the same archdiocese the Holy Father accepted, in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the Code of Canon Law.

 - Appointed Bishop Thomas J. Paprocki, auxiliary of the archdiocese of Chicago, U.S.A., as bishop of Springfield in Illinois (area 39,195, population 1,176,000, Catholics 164,000, priests 157, permanent deacons 23, religious 661), U.S.A.
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