Quebec City, Canada, May 19, 2005 / 22:00 pm
Pope Benedict XVI plans to make his first papal trip to Canada in 2008, “if God is willing.”
Organizers of the 49th International Eucharistic Congress in Quebec City announced that they are hopeful the new pontiff will attend and celebrate the closing mass.
The Congress will coincide with the city’s 400th anniversary and the 350th anniversary of the appointment of Blessed François-de-Laval as North America’s first bishop.
"I have a close relationship with him and I think he will come," Marc Cardinal Ouellet said Thursday. "Really. I am positive about that. He will come."
The archbishop of Quebec said he invited the Pope to the closing of the congress when he was in Rome for the papal conclave.
The Pope said he would be there, if God is willing, Cardinal Ouellet reported.
The Knights of Columbus are donating $1 million to help organize the event.