Italian shrine city now one of most visited by Pope John Paul II

Published: 2004-09-08

LORETO, Italy (CNS) -- Italy's most important and popular Marian shrine city is now one of the most visited by Pope John Paul II. His one-day visit Sept. 5 to Loreto to beatify three 20th-century Catholics marked the pope's fifth trip to this eastern seaside town. The only other Marian shrine he has visited as often as pontiff is Poland's national shrine of Our Lady of Jasna Gora in Czestochowa. Though he did not set foot in Loreto's Holy House of Mary, the shrine's much venerated Our Lady of Loreto statue was carried three miles to the site of the beatification Mass to be with the pope. "The Mother goes to the son if the son does not go to the Mother," the shrine's historian, Father Giuseppe Santarelli, told the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire. It was the first time the venerated wooden statue of the Madonna and Child left the ancient walls of the city, which attracts some 4 million visitors a year.

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