Valencia Trader

Pope Benedict XVI to visit Valencia

The World Meeting of Families (WMF) is a large gathering that the Pope calls every three years to celebrate the divine gift of the family. It brings together hundreds of thousands of families from five continents to pray, talk, learn, share and go into depth on the understanding of the role of the Christian family as a domestic Church and basic unit for evangelisation.

"In the family, the future of Humanity is forged", proclaimed John Paul II the Great when he announced the creation of these meetings.

The International Family Fair will be held at the grounds of “Feria Valencia”.

The next WMF will be held in Valencia from 1-9 July 2006, as was decided by John Paul II himself, and has been recently confirmed by his sucessor, Benedict XVI.

Initial Program
International Fair for the Families - 1st to 7th July.
International Theological and Pastoral Congress - 4th to 7th July.
Rosary for the Families - 7th July, night.
Eucharist celebrations for linguistic groups - 8th July, morning.
Festive and testimonial Meeting - 8th July, evening.
Concluding Eucharist presided by the Pope - 9th July, morning.

Pope Benedict XVI was elected pope in April 2005 at the age of 78. He is the oldest person to have been elected pope since Clement XII in 1730. He served longer as a cardinal before being elected pope than did any pope since Benedict XIII (elected 1724). He is the ninth German pope, the last being the Dutch-German Adrian VI (1522–1523). The last pope named Benedict was Benedict XV, an Italian who reigned from 1914 to 1922, during World War I.