Rome, Italy, Aug 5, 2008 / 01:48 am
Pope Benedict XVI is continuing to vacation with his brother in the northern Italian town of Bressanone, where he is reportedly drafting a new encyclical.
On Sunday, after celebrating the Angelus service at Bressanone’s cathedral, he and his elder brother Father Georg Ratzinger made a quiet visit to the tomb of his friend and Catholic missionary Anton Agreiter in the nearby village of Sant’Andrea.
The Pope, who had vacationed in Bressanone before his election to the papacy in 2005, has reportedly spent much time in his seminary retreat’s library where he reads and prays. According to ANSA, he has planned to devote his two-week break to draft his encyclical on social issues and also to work on the second part of his book Jesus of Nazareth.
A grand piano has been installed at the seminary for both of the music-loving brothers.
The two will stay in Bressanone until August 11. On Tuesday Pope Benedict will travel to the town of Oies to visit the house of St. Joseph Freinademetz, a local priest who was a missionary to China.