Details On Pope's World Youth Day Trip to Brazil Released By Vatican

The Vatican said that Pope Francis will travel to Brazil in July for World Youth Day, a major Catholic youth event expected to draw upwards of 2.5 million people.

The July 22-29 trip for the Argentine pope, a champion of the poor and disenfranchised, will also include a visit to Rio's Manguinhos slum and a meeting with young inmates.

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Pope Francis' charisma and the fact that he is Argentinian are expected to prompt a surge in attendance at the six-day World Youth Day, an event that has been held every two or three years since 1985.

The 76-year-old pontiff, elected in March, will visit the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, considered a patron of Brazil, the world's most populous Catholic country, on July 24.

Aparecida is some 240 kilometres (150 miles) southwest of Rio.

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The pope has no events scheduled for July 23, his first full day in Brazil, designated for rest after the long journey from Rome.

On July 25, he will address a crowd of young people on Rio's Copacabana beach and bless the flags of the 2016 Olympics to be held in Brazil. He visits the Manguinhos slum the same day.

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The Vatican said he will then on July 26 meet young inmates and take confessions from some of the participants in World Youth Day and preside over a procession in Copacabana.

On July 27, the pope will meet with Brazilian political and religious leaders and hold a mass prayer vigil in Campus Fidei de Guaratiba on the outskirts of Rio.

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Francis will round off the trip with an outdoor mass on Sunday, July 28, and return to Rome the following day.

Source-AFP