Vatican spokesman confirms

Aide Confirms Papal Trip to Mideast Could Happen

VATICAN CITY, NOV. 27, 2008 (Zenit).- A Vatican spokesman has confirmed that the Vatican and Israel are considering a papal trip to the Holy Land in 2009.

Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, responded today to a report from an Israeli newspaper that Benedict XVI could visit the Holy Land next year.

The spokesman's brief statement was: "I can confirm that contacts exist at a diplomatic level between the Holy See and Israel to study the possibility of a trip by the Pope to the Holy Land next year."

Haaretz, the Israeli daily that published the rumor today, suggested that the Pope's visit could be scheduled for the second week of May.

It would be the third visit of a Pope to the state of Israel; Pope Paul VI went in 1964 and Pope John Paul II went in 2000.