According to Opera Romana Pellegrinaggi, the Vatican's travel arm and the world's largest operator of Catholic Pilgrimage tours, this second annual Marathon will take place on April 23rd, 2009. The entire week of April 20th to April 27th will be filled with many exciting events. The course of the marathon will be from Bethlehem to Jerusalem and is expected to attract more than 5,000 runners from all over the world. See our Special Deals for the Papal Tour.

May 13th - Visit to Bethlehem and meeting with Palestinian Authority Leader Mohammed Abbas. A mass at Mangar Square, outside the Church of the Nativity, will be held. •

May 15th - Meetings with local religious leaders at local Churches in Jerusalem. A farewell ceremony at Ben Gurion International Airport will be held. Pope Benedict XVI will return to Rome on a special EL AL flight at the conclusion of the ceremony. If you wish to plan a tour following in the footsteps of this memorable Papal visit, please let us know. We have arranged special priced tours for groups of 15 people or more.