Luxembourg church allocates places for papal meeting

Pope Francis is expected in Luxembourg at the end of September. His 46th trip abroad will take him to the capital of the Grand Duchy of the same name; many of the faithful will be able to meet the head of the Church there on 26 September, including in Notre-Dame de Luxembourg Cathedral. "The public is cordially invited", emphasises the Archdiocese of Luxembourg on the event website.

Free registration is possible from Tuesday (9 am) to Thursday (5 pm). If demand is greater than the number of places available in the church, places will be allocated by lottery. For security reasons, however, participants will have to arrive in the early afternoon, as individual access to the cathedral will not be possible on this day. Instead, there will be a shuttle service from the Grand Theatre to the cathedral.

According to the programme, songs and prayers will be performed from 3 p.m. as a prelude to the event; the Pope will arrive at the cathedral at around 4.30 p.m. and hold a discussion with the guests, among other things. An additional tent with a screen will also be set up in the cathedral courtyard to allow more people to attend.

2,000 flags for Pope fans

The Luxemburger Wort also reported that the Pope would be driving through the centre of the capital in the Popemobile, citing a spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Luxembourg. This public journey is due to start at around 12.45 pm. Around 40 young people will distribute 2,000 paper flags of the archdiocese, which have been specially made for the Pope's trip to Luxembourg, to the numerous visitors from the Grand Duchy and neighbouring countries along the route.

According to the diocese spokesperson, the choice of the "Fir ze dengen Letzebuerg" motto was inspired by Luxembourg Cardinal Jean-Claude Hollerich. Among other things, it was important to him that the cathedral was included in the logo - and therefore on the waving flags.

Francis begins his longest trip abroad to date this Monday. The Pope will spend twelve days visiting Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. (KNA)