Benedict XVI — The Pontiff’s Return To Germany

The long standing question to which “yes” would always be answer “is the Pope Catholic”? Well, in this case I’d like to ask, “Is the Pope German”?

The Supreme Pontiff sitting on the throne of St. Peter is in fact, German; and this is why his return to Germany September 22nd to the 25th is a very big deal.

http://www.papst-in-deutschland.de/english/

I know it’s a bit early to put this epic occasion in our blog event section (it is still summer, after all), but the chances of getting tickets to one of the five papal services (two in Freiburg, with one each in Erfurt, Etzelbach, and Berlin) are slim to none.

Sorry, more than a hundred thousand requests have already been sent; and seating is limited.

That’s too bad, but even if you can’t get yourself a ticket to the see the pope in action you can follow along the Benediktweg or Benedict Trail.

Yeah, that’s a shameless plug for a scenic route in Germany if ever I wrote one. ;-)

Pope Benedict XVI was born on April 16, 1927 as Joseph Ratzinger in Marktl am Inn in Upper Bavaria, but that’s not the only town on this 225 kilometer route.

You can see the village of Hufschlag (which is part of the town of Surberg), where the young Joseph’s parents bought a farm, or many amazingly beautiful monasteries or medieval churches in towns like Altötting, Neuötting, Hohenwart (Mehring), Burghausen, and Seeon-Seebruck.

Whew, I didn’t think I could stop mentioning Bavarian towns there for a second. ;-)

Many of the towns along the Benedict Trail might not have much to do with Benedict the Pope, some were important when he was just a mere Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger.

Ha, a mere Cardinal; like there are a bazillion of them walking city streets across the globe.

Whatever Pope Benedict’s name now or was, his return to Germany is momentous, as is the scenic route that bears his name.