By Francis X. Rocca Catholic News Service 

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Francis will meet slum-dwellers and powerful politicians, pay homage at a Marian shrine and celebrate with participants at World Youth Day when he visits Brazil in late July.

The Argentine pope’s first international trip, which will take him to his native Latin America, was planned under his predecessor, retired Pope Benedict XVI.

Pope Francis will fly to Rio de Janeiro July 22 and spend his six-day visit in or around the city, except for half a day in Aparecida, an hour and 15 minutes to the west by helicopter, where he will pray in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida, Brazil’s principal patron saint.

In Rio, the pope will visit a hospital and a notorious “favela” slum, meet Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, Latin American bishops and juvenile offenders, and address what the Vatican’s official itinerary describes as the “ruling class of Brazil.”

The largest part of Pope Francis’ time will be devoted to World Youth Day events, starting with a welcome ceremony on Rio’s Copacabana beach — where he will later lead the Stations of the Cross — and culminating in an outdoor Mass 30 miles away in Guaratiba.

Here is the schedule for the trip as released by the Vatican May 7. Times listed are local, with Eastern Daylight Time in parentheses:

Monday, July 22 (Rome, Rio)

— 8:45 a.m. (2:45 a.m.) Departure from Rome’s Ciampino airport to Rio de Janeiro. — 4 p.m. (3 p.m.) Arrival ceremony at Rio’s Galeao-Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport. — 5 p.m. (4 p.m.) Welcome ceremony in the Guanabara Palace garden. Speech by pope. — 5:40 p.m. (4:40 p.m.) Courtesy visit to Rousseff in the Guanabara Palace.

Tuesday, July 23 (Rio) Private time in the Sumare Residence.

Wednesday, July 24 (Rio, Aparecida) — 8:15 a.m. (7:15 a.m.) Departure by helicopter from Rio to Aparecida. — 9:30 a.m. (8:30 a.m.) Arrival at Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida. — 10 a.m. (9 a.m.) Veneration of the image of Our Lady of Aparecida in the Shrine of the Twelve Apostles. — 10:30 a.m. (9:30 a.m.) Mass in the Basilica of the National Shrine of Our Lady of Aparecida. Homily by pope. — 1 p.m. (12 noon) Lunch with bishops and seminarians of the province of Aparecida in the Bom Jesus Seminary. — 4:10 p.m. (3:10 p.m.) Departure by helicopter from Aparecida to Rio. — 5:25 p.m. (4:25 p.m.) Arrival in Rio. — 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m.) Visit to Rio’s St. Francis of Assisi Hospital. Speech by pope.

Thursday, July 25 (Rio) — 9:45 a.m. (8:45 a.m.) Pope receives the keys to the city and blesses the Olympic flags in Rio’s City Hall. — 11 a.m. (10 a.m.) Visit to residents of Varginha in the Manguinhos complex of slums. Speech by pope. — 6 p.m. (5 p.m.) Welcome celebration with young people on Rio’s Copacabana beach. Speech by pope.

Friday, July 26 (Rio) — 10 a.m. (9 a.m.) Pope hears confessions of some young people in Rio’s Quinta da Boa Vista Park. — 11:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m.) Meeting with young prisoners at archbishop’s palace. — 12 noon (11 a.m.) Pope prays Angelus and gives speech from balcony of archbishop’s palace. — 12:15 p.m. (11:15 a.m.) Meeting with organizers and benefactors of the XXVIII World Youth Day in the archbishop’s palace. — 1 p.m. (12 noon) Lunch with young people in the archbishop’s palace. — 6 p.m. (5 p.m.) Stations of the Cross with young people on Copacabana beach. Speech by pope.

Saturday, July 27 (Rio) — 9 a.m. (8 a.m.) Mass with bishops, priests, religious and seminarians in Rio’s Cathedral of St. Sebastian. Homily by pope. — 11:30 a.m. (10:30 a.m.) Meeting with the “ruling class of Brazil” in Rio’s Municipal Theater. Speech by pope. — 1:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m.) Lunch with Brazilian cardinals, leaders of the Brazilian bishops’ conference and bishops of the region in the Sumare Study Center, Rio. — 7:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m.) Prayer vigil with young people at the “Campus Fidei” in Guaratiba. Speech by pope.

Sunday, July 28, 2013 (Rio) — 10 a.m. (9 a.m.) Mass and Angelus at the “Campus Fidei,” Guaratiba. Homily and remarks by pope. — 4 p.m. (3 p.m.) Meeting with the coordinating committee of the Latin American bishops’ council, CELAM, in the Sumare Study Center. Speech by pope. — 4:40 p.m. (3:40 p.m.) Departure from the Sumare Residence. — 5:30 p.m. (4:30 p.m.) Meeting with World Youth Day volunteers in Rio Center. Speech by pope. — 6:30 p.m. (5:30 p.m.) Farewell ceremony at Galeao-Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport. Speech by pope. — 7 p.m. (6 p.m.) Departure for Rome.

Monday, July 29 (Rome) — 11:30 a.m. (5:30 a.m.) Arrival at Rome’s Ciampino Airport.