Pope will reach out to German Protestants on state visit

Berlin, September 21 (ENInews)--Pope Benedict XVI, on his first state
visit to his native country, arrives in Berlin on 22 September in what many see
as a unique opportunity for increased understanding between Catholic and
Protestant Churches.

During the four-day visit, he will lead an ecumenical service on 23
September at the Augustinian Monastery in the city of Erfurt, where Martin
Luther, founder of the Protestant Reformation, studied in the 16th century. "We
do not expect a sensation," Benedict said in an address broadcast on German
television on 18 September. "The great thing about it is that we are
thinking together at this place, hearing the Word of God and praying, and so are
together in our hearts and true ecumenism occurs."

Benedict said meeting with representatives of the Evangelical Church in
Germany (the federation of Protestant churches in Germany, or EKD) will be a
highlight of the four-day visit. Reinhard Mawick, a spokesman for the EKD
said the Erfurt events were planned in response to a letter from Benedict to
EKD President Nikolaus Schneider, asking that ecumenical discussion play a
significant role in his visit.