Pope asks for prayers ahead of visit to Holy Land

At the end of his weekly General Audience yesterday, Pope Francis announced that he was about to leave for the Holy Land, and appealed for prayers.

The Holy Father said the first reason for his visit was "to meet my brother, Bartholomew," the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople, to mark the 50th anniversary of the meeting between Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras of Constantinople. The meeting launched a new era of ecumenical cooperation and dialogue.

"Peter and Andrew will meet once again, and this is very beautiful," he said. Pope Francis is considered the successor of the apostle Peter and Patriarch Bartholomew the successor of his brother, the apostle Andrew.

The Pope said the second reason for his trip is "to pray for peace in that land that suffers so much."

Pope Francis is due to leave the Vatican this Saturday, 24, May and fly to Amman, Jordan, for a full day of meetings, a public Mass and an encounter with refugees and people with disabilities.

The next morning he will travel to Bethlehem for a meeting with Palestinian leaders, a Mass and a meeting at a Palestinian refugee camp. The evening of 25 May, he plans to go to Jerusalem to meet Patriarch Bartholomew.

On the last day of the trip, 26 May, the Pope will meet with Muslim, Jewish and Israeli authorities in Jerusalem, pray at the Western Wall and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial, then meet again with Patriarch Bartholomew and with Catholic groups.

Source: Vatican Radio/VIS