VATICAN CITY, JULY 2, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI will visit Austria for his seventh international apostolic trip, the first in Europe for 2007.
The Vatican press office confirmed today that the Pope will travel Sept. 7-9 trip to Mariazell to mark the 850th anniversary of the founding of the Marian shrine there.
The Pope will travel by plane from Rome's Ciampino Airport to Vienna on Sept. 7, and travel to Mariazell the next day. He will return to Rome's Ciampino Airport via Vienna on Sept. 9.
Austrian President Heinz Fischer invited the Holy Father to visit the shrine during an audience with the Pontiff last October.
Mariazell is a small city in the north of the province of Styria. The basilica of the Birth of Our Lady is home to the Magna Mater Austriae (Great Mother of Austria), a wooden statue of Mary that dates back to the founding of the shrine.
ZE07070210 - 2007-07-02