Cardinal Mahony to take October sabbatical in Africa, Italy

Published: 2004-09-27

LOS ANGELES (CNS) -- Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles has announced that he will take an Oct. 6-29 sabbatical to visit Catholics in several central African countries and to travel to artistic and architectural sites in Italy. The cardinal said he has received permission from the Vatican to take sabbaticals each October for the next several years. An aim of the sabbaticals is to visit parts of the world "where newer, younger Catholic churches are taking root and beginning to flourish," said the cardinal in an open letter published in the Sept. 24 issue of The Tidings, the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper. "Since Los Angeles has countless thousands of people from so many continents and countries, each year's sabbatical will enable me to know and understand the local culture and religious practices of our immigrant population," he said. The cardinal said the Africa trip will take him to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and to Rwanda and Burundi. The final week of the sabbatical will be spent in the Italian cities of Florence and Siena for the art and architecture part of the sabbatical, he said.

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