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VATICAN CITY, 15 APR
2008 (VIS) - At midday today, the Holy Father departed from
Rome's Fiumicino airport. Following a flight of
more than
7,000 kilometres, his plane is due to land at 4
p.m. local time (10 p.m. in Rome) at
Andrews Air Force Base near
Washington
D.C. This is the Benedict XVI's
eighth apostolic trip outside Italy
and his first to the
U.S.A.
as Pope.
U.S. President George W. Bush and
his wife Nancy will welcome the Pope as he descends from his
aircraft. No speeches are scheduled for this first meeting and the
welcome ceremony proper will take place tomorrow at
10.30 a.m. local time (4.30 p.m. in
Rome) at the White House, official residence of the
U.S.
president.
After landing, Benedict XVI will
travel by car to the apostolic nunciature in Washington D.C where he
will spend the rest of the day.
Tomorrow, 16 April, is the
Pope's 81st birthday, and Saturday 19 April, will mark the third
anniversary of his election to the pontifical throne.
Continued
VIS
080415 (180)
 Picture
of Pope Benedict XVI during White House ceremony.
(Image believed to be in the public domain, if not, will
someone please let us know.)
Why do we
not show more images of this wonderful event? The reason: All the
pictures of the Holy Father's Visit are locked up in copyrights
belonging to the Media. We at FFMR respect copyrights and we are
very careful to check all images we receive thoroughly to make sure
they are free and clear.
The image
at the left is believed to have come from U.S. Government sources,
and such images are generally in the public domain. /fss |
