Pope expresses joy at return to Germany

COLOGNE, Germany - Pope Benedict expressed joy on yesterday to be in his native country and among hundreds of thousands of enthusiastic young Catholics, as he began the first international trip of his pontificate.

"With deep joy I find myself for the first time after my election to the chair of Saint Peter in my beloved homeland, in Germany," Benedict said.

"I thank God who has enabled me to begin my pastoral visits outside Italy with this visit to the nation of my birth." The Pope, who was elected in April, will spend four days in Cologne and end the Roman Catholic Church's World Youth Day jamboree with an open-air Mass on Sunday.

"Welcome home, welcome to Germany," German President Horst Koehler said.

Pope Benedict said he had travelled to Cologne for the 20th World Youth Day, attended by 400,000 youngsters, which was planned and prepared by his Polish-born predecessor John Paul.

"That so many people have come to meet the successor of Peter is a sign of the Church's vitality. I am happy to be with them, confirm their faith and enliven their hope," he said.

"At the same time I am sure that I will also receive something from them, especially from their enthusiasm, their sensitivity, and their courage which will help encourage me in my role and to face the challenges of the future."

As he stepped out of his Alitalia jet, a gust of wind blew the Pope's white skullcap off and he turned around to look for it. He quickly gave up and proceeded down the stairs where German President Horst Koehler was waiting for him.

Benedict, who has promised doctrinal continuity with Pope John Paul without necessarily trying to match his popular gestures, did not kiss the ground on arrival as his charismatic predecessor used to do.

He was met with applause and chants of "Benedetto" - his name in Italian - by a small group of Italian and German youngsters waiting on the tarmac.

The trip is a test for Benedict, a quiet intellectual making his debut leading the World Youth Days that John Paul launched in the 1980s and dominated like a superstar.

While in Germany Benedict will also meet Protestant, Muslim and Jewish leaders. Vatican experts will watch for signals of how he intends to develop relations with other faiths.

"These meetings are important steps along the journey of dialogue and cooperation in our shared commitment to building a more just and fraternal future. A future which is truly more human," Benedict said.

Both the Pontiff and Koehler made frequent reference to Germany, its historical role and the work of the German church.

"It is particularly moving, and I can say this also as a Protestant Christian, that a German - one of us - has been made Pope," Koehler said, adding it had historical significance.

"After a Polish Pope, whose country was first to be invaded by the Germans in World War Two, we now have someone from the generation drafted at the close of the war." The former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was drafted into the German army late in the war but deserted. Like almost all German teenagers at the time, he was forced to join the Hitler Youth but hardly participated in it.

Koehler added this gave him confidence 60 years after the end of Nazism, and a German Pope was viewed worldwide as a sign of reconciliation.

- REUTERS