Pope’s spring calendar filled with liturgies, Year of Faith events

05 Apr 2013

By The Record

Pope Francis arrives to lead his general audience on April 3 in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican. PHOTO: CNS/Paul Haring

By Cindy Wooden

Releasing the calendar of Pope Francis’ liturgical celebrations for April and May, the Vatican confirmed he would keep the Year of Faith appointments set by his predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI.

However, the first event on the list is intimately tied to his election. He is scheduled to celebrate Mass April 7 and be installed at the Rome diocesan cathedral, the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

The next Sunday, April 14, he will celebrate an evening Mass at another of Rome’s patriarchal basilica — St. Paul Outside the Walls.

The rest of the calendar released April 3 by the Vatican included:

— April 21, celebration of Mass and priestly ordinations in St. Peter’s Basilica.

— As part of the Year of Faith, Pope Francis will celebrate Mass April 28 in St. Peter’s Square and administer the sacrament of confirmation to some young people.

— The pope will visit the patriarchal Basilica of St. Mary Major May 4 and lead the recitation of the rosary.

— As part of the Year of Faith, Pope Francis will preside over a Mass May 5 in St. Peter’s Square for members of confraternities who promote processions and other acts of popular piety.

— In St. Peter’s Square May 12, the pope will preside over his first proclamation of new saints. At the beginning of the Mass, he will canonize: Blessed Antonio Primaldo and companions, Italians killed by Ottoman soldiers in 1480; Blessed Mother Laura Montoya, the Colombian founder of the Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of St. Catherine of Siena; and Blessed Mother Lupita Garcia Zavala, also known as Mother Maria Guadalupe, the Mexican co-founder of the Congregation of the Servants of St. Margaret Mary and the Poor.

— On May 18, the eve of Pentecost, he will participate in a prayer vigil in St. Peter’s Square with members of Catholic lay movements. The next morning, also in the square, he will celebrate Mass with them. The events were part of the original schedule for the Year of Faith. –  CNS