The Pope's Trip

to Mexico City and St. Louis

FRIDAY, Jan. 22 (Rome, Mexico City) 10:00 a.m. Central Standard Time (CST) / 3 a.m. Central European Standard Time (CET): Departure from Rome's Leonardo da Vinci International Airport for Mexico City.

4:15 p.m. CST—Arrival and welcoming ceremony at Benito Juárez International Airport in Mexico City. Speech by Pope.

6:30 p.m. CST—Signing of post-synodal apostolic exhortation for the Synod of Bishops for America, in a room at the apostolic nunciature in Mexico City.

SATURDAY, Jan. 23 (Mexico City) 11:00 a.m. CST—Mass marking the conclusion of the Synod of Bishops for America, in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe. Homily by Pope.

7:00 p.m. CST—Courtesy visit to Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo at presidential residence, Los Pinos. Meeting with diplomatic corps in presidential residence.

SUNDAY, Jan. 24 (Mexico City) 11:15 a.m. CST—Mass at Hermanos RodrÌguez Racetrack. Homily by Pope.

6:45 p.m. CST—Visit to the sick at Adolfo LÛpez Mateos Hospital. Message from the Pope to all the sick of Mexico.

MONDAY, Jan. 25 (Mexico City) 10:00 a.m. CST—Mass in garden of the apostolic nunciature.

1:30 p.m. CST—Meeting with cardinals and presidents of bishops’ conferences of the Americas, in garden of apostolic nunciature.

6:00 p.m. CST—Meeting with representatives from all 20th-century generations, in Azteca Stadium. Speech by Pope.

TUESDAY, Jan. 26 (Mexico City, St. Louis)

8:00 a.m. CST—Private Mass in chapel of apostolic nunciature.

10:00 a.m. CST—Departure ceremony at Benito Juárez International Airport.

10:30 a.m. CST—Departure for St. Louis.

2:00 p.m. CST—Arrival at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Welcoming ceremony in the Air National Guard Hangar at the airport. Speech by Pope. Private meeting with U.S. President Clinton in a room of the Air National Guard Hangar.

6:45 p.m. CST—Meeting with youths at Kiel Center in St. Louis. Speech by Pope. Message from Pope for the sick children of Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital.

WEDNESDAY, Jan. 27 (St. Louis)

10:30 a.m. CST—Mass in Trans World Dome in St. Louis. Homily by Pope.

5:30 p.m. CST—Evening prayer service at Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis. Speech by Pope.

7:30 p.m. CST—Departure ceremony at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

8:30 p.m. CST—Departure for Rome.

THURSDAY, Jan. 28 (Rome)

1:00 a.m. CST / 6.00 a.m. CET—Arrival at Rome's Ciampino Airport.

Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki of Cologne attends a German Synodal Way assembly on March 9, 2023.

Four German Bishops Resist Push to Install Permanent ‘Synodal Council’

Given the Vatican’s repeated interventions against the German process, the bishops said they would instead look to the Synod of Bishops in Rome. Meanwhile, on Monday, German diocesan bishops approved the statutes for a synodal committee; and there are reports that the synodal committee will meet again in June.

Palestinian Christians celebrate Easter Sunday Mass at Holy Family Church in Gaza City on March 31, amid the ongoing battles Israel and the Hamas militant group.

People Explain ‘Why I Go to Mass’

‘Why go to Mass on Sundays? It is not enough to answer that it is a precept of the Church. … We Christians need to participate in Sunday Mass because only with the grace of Jesus, with his living presence in us and among us, can we put into practice his commandment, and thus be his credible witnesses.’ —Pope Francis