Pope heads to France Friday
Agence France-Presse
First Posted 10:22:00 09/10/2008
Filed Under: Religion & Belief, Religions, Churches (organisations), Foreign affairs & international relations
VATICAN CITY -- Pope Benedict XVI will embark on his 10th foreign trip outside Italy since his election three years ago when he heads to France on Friday.
In his travels so far, the 81-year-old pontiff has been twice to his native Germany, as well as Poland, Spain, Turkey, Brazil, Austria, the United States and Australia.
The pontiff will travel first to Paris on Friday before heading to Lourdes, southwestern France, on Saturday to mark the 150th anniversary of a peasant girl's claimed visions of the Virgin Mary in the Pyrenees town that has become the most important Marian sanctuary in the world.
Benedict travels far less than his predecessor John Paul II, who visited 129 countries in his nearly 27 years as pontiff.
The pope's latest destination was Australia, where he attended the World Youth Day festivities in Sydney.
As he did during his April trip to the United States, the pope publicly expressed his "shame" over the "evils" of pedophile priests.
In the United States, the pontiff made stops in Washington and New York including a speech to the UN General Assembly.
Benedict visited Turkey in late 2006 at the invitation of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, but the trip is best remembered for his stunning gesture to the Muslim world just months after his remarks seemingly linking Islam to violence sparked riots.
He assumed an attitude of Muslim prayer alongside the grand mufti of Istanbul Mustafa Cagrici, facing Mecca, in Istanbul's Blue Mosque.
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