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BBC – Pope to get ‘own’ mountain peak

A region in central Italy has announced it will name a mountain peak after Pope John Paul II, who has enjoyed hiking in the area in the past.

The ceremony is due to be held on the Pope’s 85th birthday on 18 May.

The 2,424 metre (7,900 feet) peak is in the Gran Sasso, the highest mountain range in the Appennines.

The nature-loving Pope once told pilgrims in St Peter’s Square that in the Bible, mountains “were considered a special place to meet God”.

“We decided on the Gran Sasso because the Pope visited it many times in order to get some rest as well as to pray,” said Monsignor Casolini, a member of the Abruzzo region committee which launched the initiative.

“This place always had a special place in the Pope’s heart,” he added, explaining that the Appennine mountains reminded him of his native Poland.

“He likes to walk on the paths surrounding the mountains, and therefore a path will also be named in his honour.”

The Gran Sasso massif is the highest mountain in the Apennine ridge, which runs along the Italian peninsula.

When I think of Poland, I don’t think of mountains. I think of this sort of thing. But, evidently I’ve been wrong.