21 September 2011

Pope Benedict XVI to visit Germany this weekend


Pope Benedict XVI meets German children in traditional costume on a previous visit

Please pray for the success of Pope Benedict’s Apostolic Visit to Germany, which begins tomorrow, Thursday 22nd September, and goes on until Sunday 25th. This will be a significant visit by the Pope to his home country. Here are some of the major events of each day:

On Thursday, the Pope will meet the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, visit the Federal Parliament at the Reichstag building and meet representatives of the Jewish community. He will celebrate Mass in the Olympic Stadium in Berlin on Thursday evening. On Friday he will meet with members of the Muslim community. Later in the day, Pope Benedict will visit Erfurt, where Martin Luther was a monk. There he will meet with representatives of the German Evangelical Church in the chapter hall of the Augustinian convent. This meeting will be followed by an ecumenical celebration. On Saturday, the Holy Father will celebrate Mass at the Domplatz in Erfurt in the morning. He will meet with representatives of the Orthodox Churches. He will continue a usual feature of his visits to places in having a meeting with seminarians at Charles Borromeo Seminary Chapel in Freiburg im Breisgau, to encourage those answering the call to a priestly vocation. Another characteristic feature will be a vigil with young people at the trade fair grounds in Freiburg. Sunday Mass will be at the airport grounds in Freiburg.

For the full itinerary, see here.