This should be an interesting and eventful year for Pope Benedict XVI.

Two landmark trips, possibly a new encyclical, leadership changes in the Roman Curia and a likely meeting with Barack Obama are among what’s in store for the Pope in 2009.

The Holy Father is scheduled to make his first visit to Africa this year, flying to Cameroon to take part in preparations for a meeting of African bishops scheduled for October at the Vatican. No specific dates have been officially announced but the second leg of his journey, to Angola to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the country’s evangelization, is expected to take place March 20-23.

Benedict can expect a joyful welcome: Africa, where Catholicism has dramatically expanded over the past 100 years, has a booming number of vocations and offers much hope. But the continent also presents many challenges for the Church, not least in terms of social justice and inculturation, all of which will be analyzed in depth during a Synod for Africa in October at the Vatican. 

The eyes of the world will then turn to the Pope’s next major trip: to the Holy Land. The visit currently hangs in the balance due to the fighting in Gaza but, if it goes ahead, reports indicate it will take place May 8-15 and include stops in Amman, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Nazareth and Bethlehem.

Benedict’s long-awaited and frequently delayed first social encyclical, Caritas in Veritate, is expected to be published this year, incorporating analysis of the current financial crisis. Cardinal Renato Martino, president of the Pontifical Council of Justice and Peace, predicts it will appear in early 2009, but the truth is no one but the Holy Father really knows when it will be published.

Also possible this year is the eagerly awaited second volume of the Pope’s book, “Jesus of Nazareth,” covering the Passion and Resurrection, and Benedict’s post-synodal exhortation on the Word of God.

Significant Curial changes are expected with four cardinals reaching or exceeding the retirement age of 75. A consistory is likely later in the year.

Meanwhile, possible liturgical changes could include changing the position of the Sign of Peace during the Mass. This year might also see the new English translation of the ordinary form of the Mass finally approved.

Progress in Catholic relations with Muslims and the Orthodox is likely to continue. Special attention will focus on the new Russian Orthodox Patriarch, to be elected by June and expected to be Metropolitan Kirill of Kaliningrad.

As for interesting papal visitors, Barack Obama will probably call in at the Vatican while attending a G8 meeting on the Italian island of Maddalena in early July. However, the incoming president may choose to wait until a new U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See is in place — something that’s not likely to happen for some time. The incumbent ambassador, Mary Ann Glendon, leaves Jan. 19 after a very busy and widely praised year in the post.

— Edward Pentin