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Benedict XVI in the Cathedral
On July 8 and 9, 2006, the Fifth World Meeting of Families took place in Valencia, with the presence of Pope Benedict XVI.
Upon his arrival in the city, after praying at the site of the tragic underground accident that occurred days before, the first visit of the Pontiff was to the Metropolitan Cathedral, accompanied by Archbishop Monsignor Agustín García-Gasco.
Commemorative plaque in the Cathedral.
Benedict XVI and the Holy Chalice.
The Visit
At the main door or “the Iron Gates” he was received by the Chapter, then passing to the Chapel of the Holy Chalice, at whose entrance he was greeted by representatives of the boards of directors of the Royal Brotherhood and the Confraternity of the Holy Chalice and where the Spanish Bishops were waiting. There he worshiped the sacred Vessel, signed in the Book of Honor of the Confraternity of the Holy Chalice and received their Honour emblem.
Present and message
Next, the Pope handed over a chalice as his present for the Archbishop of Valencia and received from the CEE President (Spanish Episcopal Conference) a copy of the work of Saint John of Avila “Tratado del amor de Dios” (Treaty of God’s Love). Finally he gave Monsignor Blazquez a message for the Spanish Episcopacy that he signed there.
Benedict XVI at the high altar.
Benedict XVI in the Virgin Square.
Then Pope Benedict XVI passed through the central nave, where the Valencian priests and cloistered nuns were waiting for him. In the presbytery he could contemplate its restoration and the almost completely recovered Renaissance paintings, and there he briefly listened to the set of instruments copied from the fifteenth century frescoes and the Cathedral Choir, who set the ceremony.
After giving the blessing, he went to the Basilica of the Virgin of the Forsaken, leaving through the Almoina door.
Signature of Pope Benedict XVI in the Golden Book in the Valencia Cathedral.
With the Holy Chalice
The following day, at the closing Mass of the V World Meeting of Families, the Holy Father had the most gratifying gesture of using the Holy Chalice of the Lord’s Supper, as His Holiness John Paul II had done on his visit to Valencia in 1982.
V World Meeting of Families.
