GERMANY: Pope Benedict arrives in Altoetting on the third day of his tour of his homeland Bavaria

Pope Benedict XVI arrived in the town of Altoetting on Monday (September 11), welcomed by hundreds of thousands of pilgrims. From the early hours on Monday, Pilgrims starting lining the streets and gathering in Kappellpaltz in the hope of seeing the Pope. "I am happy he is visiting. I hope I'll see him and he'll walk past and I can touch his hand and get a blessing and consolation on the way," Sister Noemi said. Many Pilgrims were very excited that the Pope had returned to Bavaria some saying they felt this was a special event. "Its so wonderful that the Holy Father is here. I am so happy that he has come to Bavaria. I am sure that he'll fill my heart. That he is full of love and that he will fill my heart," Yvonne Wagner, another pilgrim, said. "Its wonderful. This is a once in a lifetime event for Germany", Franz Werner said" Hundreds of pilgrims cheered and clapped as the Pope entered the Kappellplatz in his Popemobile. The Pope will be visiting the Chapel of the Miraculous Image, the shrine which draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims each year. He will kneel before the 70 cm (27 inch) tall statue of the Virgin Mary which dates back to the 14th century and lead a mass in the town square. Pope Benedict, 79, who has hinted this may be his last visit home, will then travel to the village of Marktl am Inn, where he was born on April 16 1927. He has already received a warm welcome in state capital Munich, where he was archbishop from 1977 to 1982. The 2,700 villagers of Marktl, in the southeastern corner of Germany near the Austrian border, have been making the most of their best-known son. Pope beer, cakes, candles and mugs are on sale in most shops along the main street. However, the bright yellow chalet-like house in which Joseph Ratzinger was born has been vandalised with two bags of blue paint, police said on Sunday. Pope Benedict will stop for less than 30 minutes in the village where he spent the first two years of his life. He will end the day in the city of Regensburg, on the Danube, where he taught theology from 1969 to 1977. About 250,000 faithful gathered outside Munich city centre for an open air mass on Sunday. The Pope told them that Western societies were losing their souls to rationality. Pope Benedict has said he hopes his trip will revive the faith in Germany, where Catholics make up about a third of the population.

ITN Source | September 12, 2006

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