Papa Benedicto Jul 8, 07:37
Courtesy of our friends at Valencia Life:Valencia today is breathing an air of expectancy with the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI to participate in and close the World Family Forum. As soon as he arrives, there will be a tremendous peal of all the church bells in Valencia, generating a sound value of some 120 decibels. The Pope’s first action after his motorcade has left the airport and traveled into the City will be to stop at the de Jesus metro station, pray for a short while, and leave a floral tribute to the 42 who died in the recent Metro accident. Receiving Benedict at the station will be the Prince and Princess of the Asturias, as well as several of those who participated in the rescue of the victims. The Pontiff will then travel on to a meeting with King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia.
Also, some of the statistics concerning the Pope’s visit have been highlighted: 1.5 million people are expected to attend the Mass tomorrow presided by Benedict XVI. And the television audience for the event, which is being retransmitted by local station RTVV as host broadcaster, is expected to reach an audience of more than 300 million. Some 4,000 journalists have been credited to cover the event, which will be watched over by 8,000 policemen and soldiers as well as 12,000 volunteers, whilst in the skies overhead NATO AWACS aircraft will further ensure the security of the event. On the ground, some 30 marquees have been set up for the pilgrims, as have 3,000 drinking fountains. More than 650 doctors, nurses and auxiliary health workers will be on standby as will be 37 mobile health care centres.
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Valencia | by TFE
