VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict will tour Italy's quake-stricken towns and stop in a tent city housing survivors in a brief visit on April 28.
The Vatican says today the three-hour visit will include time at a tent city on the outskirts of Onna, a hamlet that was completely levelled by the powerful April 6 earthquake.
The quake claimed 295 lives, drove some 50,000 people from their homes, and toppled or heavily damaged thousands of buildings, including churches, schools and other public buildings in the Abruzzo region in the central Apennine mountains.
In Onna, on the outskirts of L'Aquila, about 40 of the 300 residents perished.
Benedict will also go to the site of a collapsed university dormitory in L'Aquila, where seven students were killed, and to the Basilica of Collemaggio, the town's best known church which suffered heavy damage.
He will visit a military barracks on L'Aquila's outskirts, which has been hosting offices aiding the victims.
Travelling by helicopter, Benedict will have an aerial view of the devastation caused by the 6.3-magnitude temblor, the Vatican said.
Immediately after the quake, Benedict expressed solidarity with survivors and prayed for the victims.
Pontiffs have a tradition of visiting sites of disasters in Italy. In January 1998, Benedict's predecessor, Pope John Paul II, made a pilgrimage to Assisi, some 3 1/2 months after a quake heavily damaged that Umbrian hill town which is the birthplace of St. Francis, and met with survivors living in temporary trailer shelters in other towns in the countryside.
