John Thavis at CNS looks at Pope Benedict’s 2007 plans – so far.

The year 2007 will see "ad limina" visits by bishops from places on four continents, including Italy, Ukraine, Slovakia, Portugal, Serbia, Kenya, Togo, Benin, Gabon, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Japan, Korea and Laos.

Pope Benedict plans to travel to Brazil in mid-May to open a meeting of the Latin American bishops’ council, or CELAM, and to Austria in September for a Marian pilgrimage. The Brazil trip is his first across an ocean, and Vatican planners are doing all they can to keep it short and sweet.

There’s also a chance the pope may visit the United Nations. An informal invitation has been floated and the pope is said to be considering it — the most likely hypothesis would be a visit in late September to address the opening of the U.N. General Assembly.

"The door is open, and the idea is circulating, but nothing’s been decided yet," one Vatican official said.

The pope’s native Germany also wants him back for another visit, this time in the capital Berlin. Other invitations have come from the Middle East and Africa, but trips there are considered less probable. He’ll make several trips in Italy, including a pilgrimage in June to Assisi, the birthplace of St. Francis.

The pope, who turns 80 in May, plans sometime in the spring to publish his book, "Jesus of Nazareth: From His Baptism to His Transfiguration," a work aimed at bringing a vivid portrait of Jesus to a wide audience.

Before then, other papal documents are expected to arrive; they include a post-synodal apostolic exhortation on the Eucharist and, according to Vatican sources, a document issued "motu proprio" (on his own initiative) that would expand permission to use the pre-Vatican II Tridentine Mass.

Sometime early in the year will appear a preparatory document for the 2008 Synod of Bishops on "The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church."

The pope has indicated he may name new cardinals on a more frequent basis than his predecessor, and he’ll have an opportunity to do so again this year. By the end of February, he’ll have at least 10 vacancies among the 120 cardinal-electors, and by June he’ll have at least 14 openings.