Pilgrims flock to Benedict's concluding mass

Catholic young people who camped out all night in an enormous field welcomed Pope Benedict XVI today as he arrived for the concluding Mass of his four-day trip to Germany – his first foreign trip as pontiff.

He was driven to the altar overlooking the Marienfeld, or Mary’s Field, in Cologne in his tall, glassed-in popemobile to the sound of hymns as thousands of priests lined up to assist in the service.

As the dawn broke, pilgrims rustled in their sleeping bags and clenched their blankets tighter.

Volunteers buzzed across the Marienfeld, clutching gray garbage bags and directing new arrivals who came to take part in the mass by the pope. The skies above were gray with clouds threatening rain.

Benedict energised the crowd on Saturday night in a service where he highlighted the need for Christians to embrace their religion.

“It is not ideologies that save the world, but only a return to the living God, our creator, the guarantor of our freedom, the guarantor of what is really good and true,” the 78-year-old pontiff told the pilgrims gathered in the vast Marienfeld near the village of Kerpen.

Organisers had no immediate crowd estimate but said only that new arrivals on Sunday morning had increased it beyond the 800,000 who attended the vigil.

Pilgrims cheered the Pope as he walked to the main altar, wearing a gold mitre and waving to the crowd. He smiled as he ascended the raised altar platform and began the service.

Cardinal Joachim Meisner, the archbishop of Cologne, welcomed Benedict, who was making his first trip back to his homeland since becoming pope in April.

He paid tribute to the young people in attendance, who he said numbered more than one million.

“Here in the midst of the youth of the world, and countless priests, bishops and cardinals, we would like to welcome you to Marienfeld,” Meisner said. “You belong to the youth, and the youth belongs to you.”