In Bavaria, pope to visit hometown, university where he taught

Published: 2006-08-21

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In a homecoming visit to the German state of Bavaria, Pope Benedict XVI plans to stop in the town where he was born, lecture at the university where he once taught and celebrate Mass in the city where he was a bishop. The pope also will meet with political leaders, speak with priests and religious, and hold an ecumenical prayer service with representatives of other churches. The official schedule of the pope's Sept. 9-14 visit to Bavaria calls for him to celebrate Mass the day after his arrival in Munich, where he was bishop 1977-82. He will celebrate Mass and lead a procession at a Marian sanctuary in Altotting and stop briefly at the parish church in the town where he was born, Marktl am Inn. The pope is scheduled to address representatives of the scientific community at the University of Regensburg, where he was a professor of theology for many years. In what the Vatican described as a "private" day Sept. 13, the pope will call on his brother, Msgr. Georg Ratzinger, in Regensburg; visit the cemetery where his parents and sister are buried; and dine at a home the pontiff still owns in the Regensburg suburb of Pentling.

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