GERMANY: 250,000 pilgrims celebrate mass with Pope Benedict XVI in Munich, Germany

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated an outdoor mass on Sunday (September 10) drawing hundreds of thousands of people. 250,000 Pilgrims were packed into the fairground on the site of Munich's old airport to celebrate mass, many of them families with children. Wearing resplendent green and white vestments, the Pope addressed the crowd from a huge platform covered by a white canopy. Some in the crowd wore traditional Bavarian folk dress, while others carried banners and portraits of the 79 year-old Pope, some chanting "Benedetto" (Benedict) as he walked up to the altar. Benedict, on the second day of a visit to his native Bavaria, said that spreading the word of Jesus Christ was more important than all the emergency and development aid that rich churches like that in Germany gave to poor countries. He also stressed the role of faith in fighting AIDS "by realistically facing its deeper causes," indirectly confirming the Church view that pre-marital abstinence and fidelity in marriage are the way to combat sexually transmitted diseases. Many pilgrims felt moved by the service and that the experience had strengthened their relationship with God. "I think the homily was very nice. And yes I think it helped me personally in my personal beliefs and my relationship with God and my prayers and my relationship with others," Anne Pralong said after the mass. The Pope will also lead a vespers service at Munich cathedral on Sunday night. The six-day visit is focused completely on his beloved Bavaria, a traditionally Catholic region with a rustic character and culture that sets it apart from the rest of Germany. The Pope has said he wants his visit to help revive Christian belief in Germany, which is about equally split between Catholics and Protestants but has seen a dramatic drop in religious observance in recent decades.

ITN Source | September 11, 2006

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