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CNS Story:
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POPE-VACATION Jul-13-2009 (350 words) With photos. xxxi
Before leaving on vacation, pope asks travelers to drive safely
By Carol Glatz
Catholic News Service
VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI called on vacationers to drive safely and asked that they use their time off to renew body and soul and grow closer to God.
The day before he left for his own vacation in northern Italy, the pope urged everyone to drive prudently and respect the rules of the road.
"A good vacation starts exactly with this," he said after reciting the Angelus July 12 with visitors in St. Peter's Square.
He said he was praying for those on vacation or pilgrimages, that they would find "refreshment in body and spirit and an opportunity to draw closer to the Lord in prayer and thanksgiving."
The pope also asked the faithful to pray for him on his journey to the mountains in northern Italy.
The pope arrived July 13 in Les Combes di Introd, a village in Italy's northwestern Alps, and was to stay there until July 29.
He was welcomed by Bishop Giuseppe Anfossi of Aosta; Osvaldo Naudin, the mayor of the town; and a group of local townspeople. Children from the village nursery school greeted the pope with a bouquet of flowers and recited a poem.
The is the third year Pope Benedict spent a part of his vacation period in the Valle d'Aosta region, which was also a holiday destination for Pope John Paul II. Pope Benedict was staying in a small Salesian-owned villa that Pope John Paul used on numerous occasions.
General audiences will not be held during the July 13-29 period, but the pope will pray the Angelus with the public in nearby Romano Canavese July 19 and in Les Combes July 26.
After his stay in the Alps, the pope will go directly to the papal summer villa at Castel Gandolfo, south of Rome. Popes generally stay at Castel Gandolfo until late September.
While the pope is at Castel Gandolfo, he will recite the Angelus on Sundays with visitors gathered in the villa's courtyard. The pope is scheduled to resume his weekly general audiences at the Vatican Aug. 5, traveling between Castel Gandolfo and the Vatican by helicopter.
END
Copyright (c) 2009 Catholic News Service/USCCB. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed.
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