The Pope's Next Trip

We try to stay humble, but it is hard when we are picked as one of "the coolest, most interesting faith-based weblogs" by Beliefnet. Aww, shucks! Meanwhile, we've uncovered the schedule of the Pope's next trip. Newsday.com reports:

The Vatican said John Paul would fly on Sept. 5 from his summer residence in Castel Gandolfo, near Rome, to Loreto, an Italian town near the Adriatic which is home to a shrine to the Virgin Mary. There the 84-year-old pope will celebrate a stamina-testing two-hour outdoor Mass.

...Vatican officials have raised the possibility the pope might make a pilgrimage to Istanbul, Turkey, taking up the invitation of a Christian Orthodox leader, in the coming months.