Details of Pope's Trip to the Holy Land Coming Out

That is if it happens. Here is a translated news reports from an Italian Newspaper via the Ratzinger Forum.

In the Holy Land, Benedict will visit a mosque and the Holocaust Museum
by Andrea Tornielli
Translated from February 9, 2009

The Pope's trip to Israel has not been announced officially and can always be cancelled at the last minute if the Gaza situation has not been pacified, but Vatican and Israeli diplomats have already agreed on details of his program.

It includes a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem on the day he arrives there. He will also be visiting a mosque in Jordan. The trip to the Holy Land appeared to be threatened during the most difficult moments of the crisis provoked by the negationist statements of one of four traditionalist bishops whose excommunication the Pope recently revoked. In fact, however, the preparatory activities were never interrupted. Like John Paul II's historic pilgrimage to the Holy Land in 2000, Benedict XVI's visit will begin in Amman, capital of Jordan, where the Pope will arrive on May 8.

The next day, the Pope will visit the ancient basilica dedicated to Moses on Mount Nebo, the site from which Moses first saw the Promised Land. A few hours later, the Pope will visit a mosque, his second to a mosque since he visited the Blue Mosque in Istanbul in November 2006.

On May 10, he will celebrate Mass for the Catholic community of Jordan in the stadium of Amman, followed by a visit to the site of Jesus's baptism on the river Jordan.

On May 11, the Pontiff will fly to Tel Aviv from Amman. [From Tel Aviv, site of Israel's international airport, he will proceed to Jerusalem.] In the afternoon, after a meeting with the President of Israel in Jerusalem, he will visit the Holocaust memorial, whose museum has a picture of Pius XII with a caption that the Vatican has protested since it came up in 2006.

The Holy See is still expecting that the caption presenting Pius XII as having been insensitive to the plight of Jews persecuted in Nazi Germany will be revised, as several authoritative personalities have also requested, including Holocaust historian Sir Martin Gilbert.

In any case, the caption should not be an obstacle, and the Pope's homage to the victims of the Holocaust will take place, although the Pope is not expected to visit the Museum photo gallery with the Pius XII photographs.

On Tuesday, May 12, Papa Ratzinger will meet the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, visit the Wailing Wall and the Cenacle [site of the Last Supper], and meet with the two Chief Rabbis of Israel. An open-air Mass will be held in the Josaphat Valley, right below the Mount of Olives. May 13 will be a day dedicated to the Palestinians. Benedict XVI will arrive by helicopter on Palestine territory where he will meet with President Abu Mazen, and then say Mass at Manger Square in Bethlehem, as John Paul II did. In the afternoon, he will visit a Palestinian refugee camp. The penultimate day of the visit, Thursday, May 14, will be spent in Galilee. The Pope will arrive in Nazareth by helicopter and say Mass at Precipice Mount(?).

On the morning of May 15, a few hours before he returns to Rome, the Pope will visit the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre. "The presence of Benedict XVI in Israel will be a positive event," Giuseppe Laras, president of the Italian rabbinical assembly, told Il Giornale, "and let us hope that between now and May, the tensions and difficulties arising from the recent crisis will have been overcome". However, the situation in Gaza will remain an unknown factor. It is highly improbable that the trip will be made if any active military conflict is under way at the time of the scheduled visit.