Pope John Paul II will visit Bulgaria from May 23 to May 26, Bulgaria’s Foreign Ministry announced. Pope John Paul II will visit Azerbaijan and Bulgaria in May, the Vatican also confirmed Wednesday. This was the Vatican's first confirmation of the trip that had long been in the planning stages.The preliminary program of the papal visit, announced in late March, includes the pope attending the mass on the occasion of Bulgaria’s holiday May 24th in the “Alexander Nevski” cathedral. On April 2 the Holy Synod approved and signed a letter, confirming that it will respect Pope John Paul II wish to meet with Maxim, the Patriarch of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church, during the Pope’ s visit in Bulgaria. The pope is expected to visit the Rila Monastery and Plovdiv where he will meet with representatives of the catholic community in Bulgaria. John Paul, who will turn 82 on May 18, cut back his participation in several Holy Week ceremonies because of what the Vatican described as arthrosis, a joint disease involving destruction of cartilage.The Vatican on Tuesday denied an Italian newspaper report that surgery was planned on his ailing knee.

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