A bronze bust of Pope Benedict XVI was unveiled Sunday in Traunstein, one of three German towns that competes for the title of Joseph Ratzinger's home town.Benedict, 80, who was in Rome Sunday packing for his summer holiday in northern Italy, was not present, but his elder brother, retired priest Monsignor Georg Ratzinger, 83, was.
Two other towns, Marktl-am-Inn, where Benedict was born but moved away at the age of two, and the city of Regensburg, where he owns a house with garden and is still on the civic role, claim to be his home.
Traunstein was where the Ratzingers, including their sister Maria, had their main schooling and their parents settled down.
"We first came here 70 years ago," said Georg Ratzinger on Sunday, "and we have always felt an attachment. The town has been special to us our whole lives long."
The bust, sculpted by Johann Brunner of Germany, was a belated civic birthday present to the pope, who turned 80 in April, and was unveiled on the 56th anniversary of the men's first mass, celebrated in Traunstein's Catholic church.
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