Pope Francis Plans To Visit Auschwitz During Trip to Poland in July
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VATICAN CITY – Pope Francis is expected to visit the Nazi death camp at Auschwitz during his visit to Poland in July, the Vatican said.
The Vatican spokesman, speaking during the presentation of a book by a 90-year-old Italian Holocaust survivor on Wednesday night, said the visit was “highly probable.”
Francis will be in the southern Polish city of Krakow in July for an international jamboree of Catholic youth.
Auschwitz, which is the German name for the Polish town of Oswiecim where the camp is located, is about 65 km (40.39 miles)from Krakow.
Both of Francis’ predecessors, Pope Benedict, a German, and Pope John Paul, a Pole, visited Auschwitz during their pontificates.
Francis visited Rome’s synagogue earlier this month and said the Holocaust, in which some 6 million Jews were killed, should remind everyone of the need for the “maximum vigilance” in the defense of human rights. (Reporting By Philip Pullella Editing by Jeremy Gaunt.)
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