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	Pope Benedict XVI to Visit Germany in September 2011 Monsters and Critics November 19, 2010 http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1600154.php/Pope-Benedict-XVI-to-visit-Germany-in-September-2011-Roundup Berlin - Pope Benedict XVI is to visit Germany next year, his third trip to his homeland since becoming pope five years ago, the office of President Christian Wulff announced Friday. Unlike the past visits, where the former Joseph Ratzinger arrived as a guest of German Catholics, the trip in the second half of September will be a state visit that includes Berlin. 'It is a special pleasure and honour for me and many people in Germany to welcome the Holy Father ... in his home country,' Wulff said. Benedict was born in the little Bavarian town of Marktl am Inn in 1927. Wulff said the trip also marked the 60th or diamond anniversary of Benedict's ordination as a priest near Munich. Catholic priests celebrate such anniversaries in the same way as married couples celebrate golden and diamond weddings. Apart from Berlin, the Pope is also to visit the archdiocese of Freiburg where the head of the German Bishops' Conference, Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, is based, the conference said in a separate announcement. The diocese of Erfurt in former East Germany added that Benedict would briefly stop there on his way between the two cities. The conference said Erfurt was chosen because it had fiercely defended its Catholic heritage during 40 years of communist rule. Klaus Wowereit, mayor of Berlin, said it would be an 'historic' moment when a pope born in Germany came to the German capital. Benedict's biggest challenge in Germany is likely to be winning over a sceptical public. The German media have generally portrayed him as a religious reactionary. Only 26 million of Germany's 80- million population are Catholic. The Catholic Church in Germany has been shaken this year by revelations of sexual abuse by some priests and talks are still under way at a government round table on compensation to victims. Zollitsch said he expected a schedule to be settled by the end of December. The archbishop's office said that if Benedict were to visit Freiburg on a Saturday or Sunday, an open-air mass might be planned, but the German bishops would need to consult first about the dates. Benedict, 83, has cut back from the gruelling travel schedule kept up by his predecessor John Paul II. His major state visit abroad this year was to Britain. His previous papal visits to Germany were in 2005 to address a Catholic congress, World Youth Day, and in 2006 to preach in his native Bavaria and briefly drop in at the private house he owns. The latter trip led to riots in some Muslim nations after Benedict spoke of a challenge to Islam to demonstrate it was based on reason. Aides said the speech in Regensburg was misunderstood. Afterwards, it led to the Vatican cultivating closer ties to moderate Muslims.
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