Hundreds of admirers greeted Pope Benedict XVI on Monday at the start of his vacation in a hamlet in German-speaking northern Italy where he often spent holidays when he was a cardinal. A visibly happy pope returned the welcome, extending his greetings in both Italian and his native German, a linguistic balancing act that recognizes the region’s bilingual status.
South Tirol was part of Austria until after World War I.
"I am very happy to be back with you in Brixen, which holds so many happy memories for me," the pope said, using the German name for Bressanone.
Benedict visited Bressanone a dozen times when he was a cardinal, often in the company of his brother, Georg, who will join him, and his late sister, Maria.
The pope will spend two weeks in the mountain-ringed hamlet, reading, resting and perhaps working on a new volume on his book about Jesus or the long-awaited social encyclical, said the Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi.
The pope will stay in a seminary where he spent previous visits — only this time in deference to his security requirements the seminarians have vacated the premises, leaving the library, a grand piano and even the black seminary cat named Milly for the pope’s enjoyment.
Benedict is a well-known cat-lover.
Benedict has four appearances planned during the trip, including Angelus prayers on each of the Sundays at the cathedral and a meeting with local priests and seminarians on Aug. 6.
He will also be made an honorary citizen of Bressanone in a ceremony on Aug. 9.
In his first three summers as pope, Benedict chose spots that were favorites of his predecessor, Pope John Paul II, twice vacationing at a retreat in the northwestern region of Valle d’Aosta and last year heading to a villa in Lorenzago di Cadore in Veneto.
He will return to his summer retreat at Castel Gandolfo outside Rome on Aug. 11.
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