Verona Awaits Pope Francis
The Pontiff will visit the city of Verona on May 18. The centerpiece of the event will be a world peace meeting at the Arena
A great event in Verona, which will receive the Pontiff on May 18. Pope Francis has once again decided to spend a day in Veneto. According to the Holy See press office, Pope Francis will preside over the “Arena of Peace – Justice and Peace Shall Kiss” session and Mass at the Bentegodi Stadium. Meetings are also scheduled with priests and monastics, youth and children, as well as inmates of Montorio Prison.
The Pope will spend about nine hours in Verona on the eve of Pentecost during a visit centered on the theme “Justice and peace shall kiss,” taken from Psalm 85. After a visit to Venice on April 28, Francis returns to Veneto again. This time in Verona, which its bishop, Domenico Pompili , has defined as “a crossroads of peoples and dialog where discussion and, especially in these difficult times, peace can flourish.”
The pontiff, according to the program distributed by the press office, will take off from the Vatican helipad in the early morning of May 18 and land in the square adjacent to the Bentegodi Stadium in Verona. The main religious and political figures of the city and the region will be waiting for him: in addition to Bishop Pompili, also the President of Veneto Region, Luca Zaia. Immediately upon arrival, there will be a transfer to the Basilica of San Zeno to meet the priests and monastic people to whom Francis will give his first speech. Subsequently, in the square of the same name, in front of the church waiting for the Pope there will be children and young people to whom the Pontiff will address a greeting.
The centerpiece of the visit will be the Arena of Verona, where the Pope will preside over the meeting “Arena of Peace – Justice and Peace Shall Kiss,” during which the Pontiff will answer some questions. At the conclusion of the meeting, Francis will travel by car to Montorio Prison, where he will greet prison police, inmates, and volunteers, to whom he will deliver a speech. Immediately after lunch with the prisoners, Francis will travel by car to the Bentegodi Stadium to lead Mass before leaving Verona for the Vatican.
