Pope to visit his native Germany

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Germany in September next year, the second time he will visit his native land since becoming pontiff, Cardinal Friedrich Wetter, archbishop of Munich, said today.

Ahead of visiting World Youth Day celebrations in Cologne in August, the Pope said he had accepted an invitation to visit Regensburg in 2006, the city in his Bavarian homeland where he once taught theology.

Wetter said in addition to Regensburg, the Pope would also visit Munich, Altoetting and likely Marktl am Inn, where he was born.