On Friday, the Holy See published the itinerary of Pope Francis’ apostolic visit to Sweden, scheduled for 31 October and 1 November. As expected, and despite the later extension of the visit from one to two days, it will be a short affair.
Starting at 11 am on Monday 31 October with the official welcome and a meeting with the Swedish royal family in Malmö, the main event of the visit is scheduled for that same day: an ecumenical prayer meeting at the Lutheran cathedral in Lund, followed by the big ecumenical celebration and meetings with various ‘ecumenical delegations’, at Malmö Arena. The roughly 10,000 available tickets for the event, which will include artists, films, testimonies and music were sold out within 90 minutes. Bishop Anders Arborelius of Stockholm has confirmed the great interest in seeing the Pope, but also added that there could be some distance.
The second day, presumably added after calls from local Catholics, will be marked by a papal Mass in Malmö. The location of this is yet to be announced.
Pope Francis will depart from Malmö airport at 12:45 in the afternoon on Tuesday 1 November.
In Caelo et in Terra 