The Pope Visits Birthplace
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REGENSBURG, Germany (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI will hold the final open-air mass of a six-day visit to his homeland, when tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to greet him in a park near this Bavarian town.
The 79-year-old pontiff will celebrate mass at Islinger Feld outside Regensburg at 10:00 am (0800 GMT), before meeting scientists and academics at the local university and holding a ecumenical prayer service in the city's cathedral.
Some 250,000 pilgrims attended the first mass of his visit in central Munich on Sunday, and a further 60,000 gathered for a second mass in the small town square of Altoetting on Monday.
Benedict was later Monday given a hero's welcome when he paid a brief visit to Marktl-am-Inn, the small Bavarian market town where he was born.
He was greeted by a brass band and loud cheers from the crowd as he stepped from his limousine on the latest stop on the nostalgic six-day tour of his native region of southern Germany.
Wellwishers in the town situated 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Munich craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the former Joseph Ratzinger, whose father Joseph senior was the local policeman.
The pope spent a few minutes praying in the Church of St Oswald, where he was christened on the day he was born, April 16, 1927.
The 79-year-old pontiff will celebrate mass at Islinger Feld outside Regensburg at 10:00 am (0800 GMT), before meeting scientists and academics at the local university and holding a ecumenical prayer service in the city's cathedral.
Some 250,000 pilgrims attended the first mass of his visit in central Munich on Sunday, and a further 60,000 gathered for a second mass in the small town square of Altoetting on Monday.
Benedict was later Monday given a hero's welcome when he paid a brief visit to Marktl-am-Inn, the small Bavarian market town where he was born.
He was greeted by a brass band and loud cheers from the crowd as he stepped from his limousine on the latest stop on the nostalgic six-day tour of his native region of southern Germany.
Wellwishers in the town situated 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Munich craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the former Joseph Ratzinger, whose father Joseph senior was the local policeman.
The pope spent a few minutes praying in the Church of St Oswald, where he was christened on the day he was born, April 16, 1927.
He knelt briefly at the baptismal font, accompanied by his 82-year-old brother Georg, a retired priest, before climbing into the popemobile to be driven through the town.
Although he got out of the car in front of the two-storey house where he spent the first two years of his life, he did not approach the building.
Instead, he paused to admire an engraved bronze column featuring scenes of his life which was erected opposite the house this month in time for his visit.
The house has been extensively renovated for the event, but the pope has said he has no memories of living there. His father's job took the family to the nearby town of Tittmoning when he was two years old.
Benedict was returning to his birthplace for the first time since he was elected pope in April last year.
The Marktl visit was the culmination of a day when the pope left behind the cosmopolitan surroundings of Munich to return to the rural Bavaria where he grew up.
After the open-air mass in Altoetting's Kapellplatz square, the head of the Roman Catholic Church addressed seminarians in the local basilica and appealed for new vocations to the priesthood.
The pontiff is making his fourth foreign trip in the 17 months since becoming pope and the second to Germany. He has also visited Poland and Spain.
From Associated Press
REGENSBURG, Germany (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI will hold the final open-air mass of a six-day visit to his homeland, when tens of thousands of pilgrims are expected to greet him in a park near this Bavarian town.The 79-year-old pontiff will celebrate mass at Islinger Feld outside Regensburg at 10:00 am (0800 GMT), before meeting scientists and academics at the local university and holding a ecumenical prayer service in the city's cathedral.
Some 250,000 pilgrims attended the first mass of his visit in central Munich on Sunday, and a further 60,000 gathered for a second mass in the small town square of Altoetting on Monday.
Benedict was later Monday given a hero's welcome when he paid a brief visit to Marktl-am-Inn, the small Bavarian market town where he was born.
He was greeted by a brass band and loud cheers from the crowd as he stepped from his limousine on the latest stop on the nostalgic six-day tour of his native region of southern Germany.Wellwishers in the town situated 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Munich craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the former Joseph Ratzinger, whose father Joseph senior was the local policeman.
The pope spent a few minutes praying in the Church of St Oswald, where he was christened on the day he was born, April 16, 1927.
The 79-year-old pontiff will celebrate mass at Islinger Feld outside Regensburg at 10:00 am (0800 GMT), before meeting scientists and academics at the local university and holding a ecumenical prayer service in the city's cathedral.Some 250,000 pilgrims attended the first mass of his visit in central Munich on Sunday, and a further 60,000 gathered for a second mass in the small town square of Altoetting on Monday.
Benedict was later Monday given a hero's welcome when he paid a brief visit to Marktl-am-Inn, the small Bavarian market town where he was born.
He was greeted by a brass band and loud cheers from the crowd as he stepped from his limousine on the latest stop on the nostalgic six-day tour of his native region of southern Germany.
Wellwishers in the town situated 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Munich craned their necks to catch a glimpse of the former Joseph Ratzinger, whose father Joseph senior was the local policeman.
The pope spent a few minutes praying in the Church of St Oswald, where he was christened on the day he was born, April 16, 1927.
He knelt briefly at the baptismal font, accompanied by his 82-year-old brother Georg, a retired priest, before climbing into the popemobile to be driven through the town.Although he got out of the car in front of the two-storey house where he spent the first two years of his life, he did not approach the building.
Instead, he paused to admire an engraved bronze column featuring scenes of his life which was erected opposite the house this month in time for his visit.
The house has been extensively renovated for the event, but the pope has said he has no memories of living there. His father's job took the family to the nearby town of Tittmoning when he was two years old.Benedict was returning to his birthplace for the first time since he was elected pope in April last year.
The Marktl visit was the culmination of a day when the pope left behind the cosmopolitan surroundings of Munich to return to the rural Bavaria where he grew up.
After the open-air mass in Altoetting's Kapellplatz square, the head of the Roman Catholic Church addressed seminarians in the local basilica and appealed for new vocations to the priesthood.
The pontiff is making his fourth foreign trip in the 17 months since becoming pope and the second to Germany. He has also visited Poland and Spain.
From Associated Press
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