Rome, Italy, Sep 14, 2006 / 22:00 pm
The Czech Bishops’ Conference announced Thursday that Pope Benedict XVI has accepted an invitation by the Archbishop of Prague, Cardinal Miloslav Vlk, to visit the Czech Republic in 2007.
Quoting the bishops’ spokeswoman, Katerina Rozova, the Efe news agency reported, “They both agreed that such a visit could take place during the first half of September” next year.
According to Rozova, the Czech cardinal “invited the Holy Father during a private conversation in Bavaria.” However, she noted, “the official protocols have not taken place yet; rather, it was only accepted privately.”
Rozova also explained that there was no special reason occasion for the visit, but that the cardinal invited him “because he is the new Pope.”
Pope John Paul II visited Czechoslovakia in April of 1990 and the Czech Republic twice, in May of 1995 and April of 1997.
The Holy See has yet to confirm the announcement.