Pope ready for visit to homeland

(Sept.21, 2011) Pope Benedict XVI heads to Germany on Thursday to propose answers to life's most essential questions, just as concerns about the future of the earth and the economy weigh heavily in the minds of many, said Vatican spokesman. Jesuit Fr. Federico Lombardi, director of the Vatican press office, offered this description of the Pope's trip during the most recent edition of Vatican Television's "Octava Dies." He said the Pope will be in Germany through Sunday, his third visit to his homeland as Pontiff, though for the first time as an official guest of the state.
Fr. Lombardi said the motto the Pope has chosen for the trip is "Where God is, there is a future." The priest noted that we are living in times of "concern for the future - the future of planet Earth and of life on it; the future of the world economy and of peace among peoples; the future of Europe and of the nations that form part of it; the future of young people and children who are venturing into life." Fr. Lombardi explained that the theme was taken from words Pope Benedict said in his homily in the Austrian Shrine of Mariazell four years ago, when he "interpreted Europe's demographic crisis as a sign of lack of confidence in the future. Yet the earth will be deprived of a future, only when the forces of the human heart and of reason illuminated by the heart are extinguished, when the face of God no longer shines upon the earth. Where God is, there is the future," the Pontiff said on that occasion.
Fr. Lombardi recalled that "from the first day of his election, Pope Benedict explained to us that the proclamation of the primacy of God would be the first priority of his pontificate. Who is God? Where can he be found and how can one speak with him? How does the relationship with God guide the life of each person and his responsibility in society, laying the foundation for a search for justice and law?" Fr. Lombardi said the “answers to questions such as these, are what to expect from the Pope in Germany”.