Pope Benedict is expected to visit his homeland in 2010, the year Germany marks the 20th anniversary of its reunification, a top German cleric said today.A trip to Germany by the Bavarian-born Benedict would be his third since the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was elected pontiff in 2005.
"I assume that there will be a visit by the Holy Father to Germany next year, an official state visit here in Berlin and, I hope, to us in Freiburg, too," Freiburg Archbishop Robert Zollitsch, the head of the German Bishops Conference, said in an interview posted on ZDF television's Web site.
Zollitsch did not say when exactly in 2010 Benedict might visit, but Germany celebrates the 20th anniversary of reunification on Oct. 3.
The Vatican typically does not confirm papal trips until closer to the date, but a Vatican spokesman, the Rev. Ciro Benedettini, noted that a trip to Germany next year was "a wish" of Benedict's.
Zollitsch's comments came at the end of what he acknowledged was a "turbulent week."
On Tuesday, Chancellor Angela Merkel made a rare public demand for a clarification from the pope after the Vatican ruled that the excommunication of British Bishop Richard Williamson, an ultraconservative who had denied the Holocaust, should be lifted.
On Wednesday, the Vatican demanded that Williamson recant his denial of the Holocaust before he can be admitted as a bishop into the Roman Catholic Church. Merkel welcomed what she called the "unequivocal" statement.
Looking ahead to the possible papal visit, Zollitsch said he believes that "by then, things will again have become calm enough that we can receive him with joy and enthusiasm."
Zollitsch lamented "misunderstandings" over the Williamson episode. He stressed the church's commitment to dialogue with Jewish representatives.
Earlier today, Germany's Central Council of Jews said its leaders had accepted an invitation to meet with Zollitsch "in the not too distant future."
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(Source: GRCN)