At Last: Pope Admits to 'Questionable' Reputation of the Catholic Church during Final Day in Germany, Daily Mail, September 25, 2011

At Last: Pope Admits to 'Questionable' Reputation of the Catholic Church during Final Day in Germany

Daily Mail
September 25, 2011

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2041638/Pope-admits-questionable-reputation-Catholic-church-final-day-Germany.html

Pope Benedict waves to the gathered believers after leading an eucharist on the last of a four-day visit to Germany

Pope Benedict XVI arrives in the Popemobile to celebrate the Eucharist

Worshippers take part in Holy Communion and receive the sacred wafers

The Pope blesses a child during a drive through the streets of Freiburg

Nuns and fellow worshippers are led by the Pope during a series of prayers

Worshippers ahead of the start of the final mass led by the Pope

Pope Benedict XVI admitted to the troubled reputation of the Catholic church as he led the the third and final Mass of his visit to his native Germany on Sunday.

He made a strong appeal for unity among Catholics with 100,000 faithful filling an airfield beside Freiburg's airport - the largest turnout of the pontiff's four-day trip.

Benedict alluded to the dissent in Catholic ranks on Saturday night, when he said that through the years 'damage to the church comes not from opponents, but from uncommitted Christians.'

He then urged the pilgrims to let their lives be guided by their faith, saying even those who doubt God's existence 'are closer to the kingdom of God than believers whose faith is routine and who regard the church merely as an institution, without letting their hearts be touched by faith.'

'Dear friends, in the last analysis, the renewal of the church will only come about through openness to conversion and through renewed faith,' he said from an altar set up on a small hill.

'The church in Germany will continue to be a blessing for the entire Catholic world if she remains faithfully united with the successors of St. Peter and the Apostles,'Benedict said in a homily urging German Catholics to 'work together in unity.'

But not all faithful were convinced.

'The pope spoke about humility and responsibility. But he failed to mention the church's own responsibility regarding the issue of sexual abuse cases,' said Stefan Haak.

'The church, too, is fallible,' said the 46-year-old from Freiburg, who had brought his two children to attend the Mass.

The pope has drawn large crowds at his stops in Berlin and in mainly Protestant eastern Germany, but the numbers were largest in this heavily Catholic southwestern city.

There have also been scattered protests, the largest drawing thousands in Berlin.

Many in Sunday's crowd waved yellow and white Vatican flags beneath a bright blue sky as they waited for the Mass to begin.

'It is beautiful to realize that one is not alone. It gives you a feeling of greater community,' said Thamah Huyen Nguyen, a 26-year-old pilgrim from Freiburg.

Julia Eibeck, from Stuttgart, appeared moved by the pope's homily.

'He made it clear that the church must be lively, that it's not about the organization but about what one has in his heart,' Eibeck said.

Others said experiencing a Mass led by the pope combined with the feeling of community was a unique experience for them.

'It's all about a joint experience, you see how many people turn out to pray with the pope, that creates a dynamic of its own,' said 51-year-old Joachim Zimmermann from Freiburg.