March 26, 2009- The Vatican has released the Pope’s schedule for his Holy Land visit.




Benedict XVI will arrive in Amman on May 8th where he will meet King Abdullah II of Jordan.

The Pope will stay in Jordan for three days before travelling to Jerusalem where  he will meet with Israeli president Shimon Peres and visit the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

On Tuesday, May 12, Benedict XVI will visit the Dome of the Rock – one of the holiest sites in the Islamic religion – before meeting with the Grand Mufti. Then the Pope will pray at the Wailing Wall before meeting  the 2 chief rabbis of Jerusalem.

Then the Pope heads off to Bethlehem to visit the grotto of the Nativity, a Caritas run children’s hospital and a refugee camp. The pope will also meet with Abu Mazen, President of the Palestinian National Authority.

The following day Benedict XVI will meet the Israeli prime minister in Nazareth before visiting the Grotto of the Annunciation.
On May 15 the Pope will be back in Jerusalem to visit the Holy Sepulchre before flying back to Rome.

Benedict XVI will be the third Pope to visit the Holy Land. Paul VI was the first to go in 1964, followed by John Paul II in 2000.