A Czech government spokesman announced yesterday that Pope Benedict XVI will visit the country on September 28, feast of St. Wenceslaus, patron saint of the Czechs.

The spokesman said that the Pontiff recently wrote a letter to Czech President Vaclav Klaus, expressing his desire to visit the central European nation. The trip would include a visit to Prague, where the Pope would pray at the ancient Cathedral of St. Vito, and a stop at Brno, the country's second largest city.

The details of the visit are being worked by a commission formed by the Papal Nuncio to the Czech Republic, Diego Causero, and Bishop Vaclav Maly, the president of the organizing committee chosen by the local bishops' conference.