The Pontiff, in fact, will reach the city of Verona by helicopter. He will land around 8 in the square adjacent to the Bentegodi stadium and then travel by car to San Zeno. Here at 8.30 he will meet around a thousand priests and consecrated people inside the basilica and will stop in front of the remains of the patron saint of the Church of Verona, which for the occasion will be moved to the upper floor. Upon leaving, around 9.15am, Pope Francis will meet the approximately five thousand children and young people who will gather for the party in Piazza San Zeno with their parents and catechists.
At 10.15 the Holy Father will preside over “Arena di Pace 2024” on the theme “Justice and peace will kiss”, a theme that will frame the internal papal visit, but which will have a moment of reflection and in-depth analysis in the meeting with the popular movements inside the Scaliger amphitheatre. Francis, in fact, will answer some questions that have emerged from discussions carried out in recent months in the five areas of work: migration, integral ecology and lifestyles, work, economics and finance, rights and democracy, disarmament.
«It will be a great and important event which acquires even greater significance in light of the historical time we are going through. Bishop Domenico specified – It will be a particularly important moment of the day, with thousands of people coming in particular from popular movements. There will be numerous international guests including Vanessa Nakate, Mahbouba Seraj, Joao Pedro Stedile, but also several Italian personalities such as Andrea Riccardi, Carlo Petrini and Carlo Rovelli”.
After the meeting in the Arena, the Holy Father will reach the Montorio prison by car where he will give a speech to the penitentiary police officers, prisoners and volunteers. He will follow the lunch with the inmates. In this regard, Bishop Domenico observed: «I believe that the numerous visits to prison are for this Pope a space for expression of that humanity that too often we take for permanently lost and which instead, Francis reminds us, must still have possibilities» .
The last act of the visit will be the pre-Pentecost Eucharistic concelebration at the Bentegodi stadium, which will begin at 3 pm and will be preceded by the party with teenagers and young people. This final embrace of Francis will see over 30 thousand faithful from the Scala parishes and from outside Verona participate from the stands of the city sports facility. At 4.45pm Pope Francis will leave by helicopter for the Vatican.
New tickets available
From 10am on Thursday 2 May, via the website https://visitapapa.chiesadiverona.it/ other tickets will be made available to take part in the meetings with the Holy Father. «There was a great participation – said Mgr. Pompili – enough to reach a sold out shortly after opening reservations. However, we managed to obtain additional seats, both for the stadium and for the Arena, occupying areas such as the lawn that were initially off-limits. We will therefore reopen registrations to respond to the numerous requests to participate that are reaching us.”
«It is clear that this visit to Verona is a historic fact, which enjoys the utmost consideration by the Government. – assured the Honorable Gianmarco Mazzi, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Culture – we are working to ensure that part of the meeting in the Arena on May 18th can be seen by everyone, through a television broadcast of about an hour . In particular, we will try to highlight the questions that the international witnesses present will ask the Holy Father.”
«On May 18 – commented Damiano Tommasi, mayor of Verona – with the Arena di Pace, Verona will experience a special day thanks to the visit of Pope Francis and the involvement of exceptional guests. The event will be an opportunity to meet and discuss the issues of justice and peace for which we have a powerful and univocal megaphone at our disposal, capable of amplifying the strength of the universal message that rises with a unanimous voice. I remember a beautiful prayer that talks about dreams: we all have the right to dream and commit ourselves to creating the best conditions for a more sustainable world. We are all called to responsibility, first and foremost as an Administration, but also as citizens, keeping an eye on the future.”
