Rumors about the Pope's travel plans for the U.S.

From the Papa Ratzinger Forum (via Amy):

Finally, the last stop - New York, with two very important moments. He will address the United Nations General Assembly, where Paul VI in 1965 and John Paul II in 1995 both delivered historic speeches. Above all, however, he will be there to pray at Ground Zero, for the victims of terrorism.

This is a mission that his predecessor had wanted to do in July 2002 on his way to World Youth Day in Toronto. But two things decided against it: The first was the Pope’s health which had already started to decline.

But the bigger reason was the political climate. It was the peak of polemics over the “clash of civilizations.” A few months earlier, Cardinal Angelo Sodano, the Pope’s Secretary of State, had said: “They cannot ask us to place ourselves behind cannons,” and the image of the Pope praying at the still-smoldering ruins of the Twin Towers would have immediately become the icon of an anti-Taliban crusade.

Now it is different. The context in which Benedict XVI will find himself will be very different: “Freedom Tower”, a crystal needle that will project a ray of light heavenwards, will be under construction, along with its surrounding urban amenities, its gardens, the memorial pools containing the names of all the dead, and other buildings in the complex. The Pope’s presence will be a gesture of remembrance and homage to the victims of the attack, but also a sign of hope for the future. From New York, the Pope will return to Rome. [More...]