'Dear God, Let's Get it Over With'

[marmar]

from Der Spiegel:



The pope's visit to Germany this week promises to be difficult. Abuse scandals among priests worldwide have dimmed enthusiasm for the leader of the Catholic Church, even in his homeland, and German papers on Thursday bicker over whether the pontiff even deserves their respect.

Pope Benedict XVI landed in Berlin on Thursday morning about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule, but the city was ready for him. A 21-gun salute fired into the air as he stepped out of the plane, and protesters around the capital gathered for demonstrations in front of the Brandenburg Gate as well as the German parliament building, the Bundestag. Benedict was scheduled to speak before the Bundestag in the afternoon, but around a hundred legislators will not sit and listen to him -- choosing instead to stand outside with the protesters.

It's a difficult homecoming for the German-born pope, who felt compelled to acknowledge the planned protests to journalists on the plane from Rome . Protest is "normal in a free society and in the secularized world," he said. "I can understand that some people have been scandalized by the crimes that have been revealed in recent times," a reference to abuse scandals that have tarnished the Church in diosceses from Australia and America to Europe . But, he said, "I was born in Germany. Such roots cannot be severed, nor should they be ."

From Berlin the pontiff planned to travel on to Erfurt and Eichsfeld in the eastern state of Thüringia, then to Freiburg in the south. He'll return to the Vatican on Sunday. ............(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,787810,00.html

[msongs]

1. tons of taxpayer money spent on the world's wealthiest human. ok nt