JERUSALEM -- Israel's tourism minister announced Monday that Pope John Paul II intended to visit Jerusalem in March next year to celebrate the millennium. It would be the first papal trip to the Holy Land since Paul VI visited Jerusalem in 1964.
But the Vatican spokesman, Joaquin Navarro-Valls, said the trip "for now has not been set," adding that neither the date nor the itinerary has been worked out, The Associated Press reported.The tourism minister, Moshe Katsav, said: "The pope's office will publish statements at a time and place they choose. The pope has the intention and desire to visit."
A senior Vatican official, Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, stood by Katsav's side but did not confirm the announcement directly. "The year 2000 is a celebration of Christ and his life in this land," the cardinal said. "Therefore it is only natural that the pope would come here."
Israeli television's Channel One, which is state-owned, reported that the pope was also expected to visit Bethlehem and Nazareth in the Palestinian territories in a three-day visit to the area from March 24 to 26 next year. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, has invited the pope to visit Bethlehem, birthplace of Jesus.