Pope Francis to visit Romania: May 31 - June 2

Pope Francis is scheduled to pay an Apostolic Visit to Romania from 31 May to 2 June 2019, the Vatican and the Romanian Presidential Administration announces, according to Agerpres.

Accepting invitations from President Klaus Iohannis and from Catholic leaders, the Pope will visit Bucharest, cities of Iași and Blaj, and the Marian sanctuary in Sumuleu Ciuc, Transylvania.

Preparations to accomplish this Apostolic Visit were also made by the Embassy of Romania to the Holy See.

In Bucharest, Sovereign Pontiff will meet with representatives of the Romanian Orthodox Church - says Ambassador of Romania to the Holy See, Petru Liviu Zăpârţan, highlighting the importance of this meeting.

Ambassador Petru Liviu Zăpârţan: The Pope's visit will undoubtedly mean the possibility of a dialogue with the Orthodox Church, the major Church in Romania. There will also be an opportunity to see that Romania is at the confluence of extremely diverse cultural spaces, the eastern space, the western space, the northern space, the southern space of Europe. In Romania there is a unique, specific cultural synthesis, which gives the Romanian people an identity that the world must know.(RRA Correspondent in Rome, Elena Postelnicu)

In Bucharest, spokesperson of the Romanian Patriarchate, Vasile Bănescu, expressed joy that the visit has been confirmed and underlined the good relations between the Romanian Orthodox Church and the Roman Catholic Church.

These relations were strengthened by the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1999, and are now renewed by the arrival of Pope Francis”, spokesperson of the Romanian Patriarchate said.

Motto of Pope Francis Apostolic Visit to Romania is “Let’s walk together”. The trip’s logo, in blue and gold, depicts a group of Romanian people walking beneath an image of Our Lady, which according to a statement from the Holy See Press Office, evokes the Virgin Mary’s care and protection of the Romanian people. The statement also noted that Romania has often been called “the garden of the Mother of God,” which is a phrase used also by Pope St. John Paul II during his Apostolic Journey to the country.

Source:RRA,Agerpres, Holy See Press Office. Translated by Miruna Matei