Pope Benedict XVI will not visit Baltimore for the rededication of the Basilica of the Assumption in November, but could make a stop here next year, a spokesman for the Archdiocese of Baltimore said yesterday.
Spokesman Sean T. Caine said that Pope Benedict's schedule will not allow him to visit for the rededication of the nation's first Roman Catholic cathedral. But with the pope considering a visit to the United States in 2007, Cardinal William H. Keeler has asked him to consider a stop in Baltimore, Caine said.
Keeler, who has known Benedict for decades, had asked him to attend the rededication of the basilica, which is undergoing a $32 million restoration.
