POPE TO VISIT AREZZO, LA VERNA AND SANSEPOLCRO, FAMOUS CENTRES OF MONASTIC LIFE

Vatican City, 25 April 2012 (VIS) - On 13 May Benedict XVI is scheduled to make a pastoral visit to Arezzo, La Verna and Sansepolcro, three Italian localities with a long history of monasticism and contemplative life.

The Holy Father will leave the Vatican by helicopter at 8 a.m. on Sunday 13 May, and is due to land at Arezzo an hour later. At 10 a.m. he will concelebrate Mass and pray the Regina Coeli in the "Il Prato" park, after which he will make a private visit to the cathedral of San Donato. Having lunched with bishops of the Tuscany region, he will again board his helicopter to travel to the shrine of La Verna where he will visit the Chapel of the Wounds in which St. Francis of Assisi used to meditate, then meet with members of the Friars Minor and Poor Clares from the local area on the esplanade in front of the building.

At 6.30 p.m. he will travel by helicopter to Sansepolcro. There he will visit the local cathedral which houses a famous crucifix known as the "Santo Volto" (Holy Face), considered to be one of the oldest images of the the clothed and crucified Christ. At 7.30 p.m. he will meet the inhabitants of the town in the piazza Torre di Berta before returning to the Vatican at 8.15 p.m.