Pope slips out of the Vatican for sneak trip

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Pope Benedict slipped out of the Vatican unannounced for the first time in his papacy on Saturday, travelling to the same spot his predecessor did exactly 27 years ago to pray after being elected.

The Pontiff visited the shrine to the Virgin Mary at Mentorella, in the mountains about 55 km (34 miles) northeast of Vatican City, where Pope John Paul II went on Oct. 29, 1978.

John Paul had said that travelling to Mentorella, in what was the first the many pilgrimages outside Rome of his pontificate, had helped him to pray.

John Paul's trip, however, was an official visit that drew thousands of pilgrims. There were only dozens present for Benedict's surprise visit.

The Vatican did not offer many details, saying only that the German Pope had made a "private pilgrimage" to Mentorella and celebrated a mass in honour of the Madonna. The statement was released only after he returned to the Vatican.

"Nobody expected him to come. It was completely spontaneous," said a man answering the telephone at Mentorella, who described himself as a "pilgrim" and declined to be named.

There may be another connection between Benedict, elected in April, and Mentorella.

On the sanctuary's Web site, www.mentorella.it, it says that St. Benedict lived in an adjacent cave for two years at some point during the sixth century. For many centuries, the Mentorella shrine was also run by the Benedictine order.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella:

Statue of Madonna The Shrine of Our Lady of Mentorella has been administered by the Congregation of the Resurrection since 1857. Mentorella is on a mountain about 40 Km SE of Rome, and about 1000 meters above sea level. It is a favorite place of pilgrimage for Pope John Paul II.

It is said to have been the place of conversion for St. Eustachius in the 2nd Century. Eustachius was eventually put to death for his faith. Two centuries later the Emperor Constantine decided to build a basilica on the spot of Eustachius’ conversion. It was consecrated by Pope Silvester I sometime before 335.

In the 6th Century the land was given to the monks of Subiaco by the Anici family. The 17th century Jesuit scholar Father Anthanasius Kircher, believed that Mentorella was one of the 12 abbeys founded by St. Benedict and that he lived in the adjacent cave for up to two years. Somewhere in the middle of the 13th Century the most precious treasure of Mentorella was created – the wooden statue of the Madonna. It sits in the church today. The Benedictines abandoned the abbey at the end of the 14th century and it fell into disrepair and ruins until Fr. Kircher discovered it.

Fr. Kircher was responsible for the rebuilding of the shrine and for restoring the cult of our Lady of Mentorella. When he died he asked that his heart be buried in the church. Pope Innocent XIII who was the pope at the time also requested that his heart be buried in the church.

In 1857 Pope Pius IX placed Mentorella under the care of the Congregation of the Resurrection, under the guidance of Fr. Kajsiewicz. The General Chapter of the Congregation of the Resurrection (1864) was held at Mentorella. In 1864, the Holy Father ceded the Sanctuary of Mentorella to the Congregation of the Resurrection “ in perpetuum”. With the fall of the Papal States the Congregation of the Resurrection purchased the shrine and acquired legal title to it.

For more information about this holy place of pilgrimage go to the Mentorella website at www.mentorella.it

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