ENI — Pope Benedict XVl has authorized a special plenary indulgence to encourage “renewed holiness” for Catholics who make a pilgrimage to Lourdes, the famous religious site in southern France, within a year of December 8, 2007.
A spokesperson for Tangney Tours in Kent, England said, “We expect a bumper year to Lourdes in 2008,” while a manager from Pax Travel in London said, “We think numbers will rise substantially in 2008 but I haven't heard what the Pope says about indulgences.”
The Pope is expected this year to visit the shrine where Mary is said to have appeared to a 14-year old shepherdess, Bernadette Soubirous in 1858.
