Madrid, Spain, Aug 12, 2011 / 15:57 pm
Pope Benedict XVI will enjoy a traditional Spanish lunch with the cardinals, bishops and auxiliary bishops of Madrid on Aug. 20.
According to Lucia De la Fuente, a professor at the Fuenllana School, the event “was expressly prepared by Cardinal Rouco Varela to mark his 75th birthday on August 20.”
Families and faculty from the school will present Pope Benedict XVI with a grant to be awarded to a seminarian from a third-world country to pay for his studies.
Some 60 people in total will join the Pope at the lunch, where they will enjoy traditional Spanish appetizers and dishes.
De la Fuente called the lunch a once-in-a-lifetime experience and said she and the rest of the staff preparing the event are “very excited.”
She added that the tables for the lunch will be decorated with blue and white flowers in honor of the flag of Bavaria, the Pope's native land.