Bavarian Catholics await "their" Pope

(08 Sep. 2006) : Pope Benedict XVI is scheduled to leave Rome on Saturday September 9 for the 4th apostolic voyage of his pontificate. Travelling to Bavaria that will continue through September 14th, the Pontiff will be visiting his homeland: a region in which the Church has seen a resurgence of interest since his election to the papacy. Although Mass attendance in Germany had been falling for some years, many of the country's Catholics have been captivated by the election of "their" Pope. The enthusiasm generated by the new Pontiff has been particularly evident among young people. There were over 1 million participants at World Youth Day in Cologne in August 2005. Bavaria is the most heavily Catholic section of Germany, with a cultural connection to the Church that stretches back across more than a 1,000 years. Within the geographical area covered by the Munich archdiocese, 53% of the population is Catholic; in Regensburg 83%, and in Passau, 90%. In Germany as a whole, about one-third of the population is Catholic, one-third Protestant, and the remaining third affiliated with non-Christian faiths or classified as non-believers.