Pope in Portugal four for days

Pope in Portugal during a visit for four days.

Hiya Pedro, I read this earlier today, and my thoughts went back to Fatima when Kate & Gerry were there



I believe our pope to be a good man and I pray that god gives him the strength to help put a stop to this wickedness & cruelty that has been going on for too many years.

I also hope that the officials involved will follow suit for the sake of children everywhere.


LISBON - POPE Benedict XVI begins a four-day trip to Portugal on
Tuesday with an open-air mass before an expected 160,000 pilgrims amid
lingering questions over the Vatican's handling of paedophile priests.

Church bells are scheduled to ring out across the capital to
mark the moment when the 83-year-old pontiff's Alitalia plane touches
down at Lisbon airport at 11am (1000 GMT, 6pm Singapore time).

Benedict is likely to focus his message on the Church's call
to preserve Europe's Christian roots and Portugal's traditional family
values during the visit, the centrepiece of which is to be a huge
open-air mass in the shrine of Fatima on Thursday.

The pontiff will be welcomed to overwhelmingly Catholic
Portugal by President Anibal Cavaco Silva days before he is due to sign
into law a bill passed by parliament which would make Portugal the sixth
country to allow same-sex marriage. The pope is also likely to address
the social problems facing one of Europe's hardest hit economies.

'The pope will encourage institutions to lend a hand and
show solidarity during difficult times,' Carlos Azevedo, the auxiliary
bishop of Lisbon and the visit's co-ordinator, told reporters Monday.
'Europe needs to be awoken, there is a lack of strong values.'

The pope is thought by some Vatican observers to be most
likely to address the issue of paedophilia in a speech to seminarians
and priests in Fatima on Thursday. -- AFP.

My friend whymadeleine, I agree with you, also my thoughts went back to Fatima when Kate and Gerry were there.