罗马教皇本笃十六世首次正式出访德国

Benedict XVI, the German head of the Roman Catholic Church, has begun his first official visit to his home country as Pope.

罗马天主教教皇本笃十六世开始其作为教皇以来首次正式访问家乡德国之旅程。

In a visit to Germany's parliament he urged politicians to seek justice, not just power, and to hold on to the Christian¹ tradition.

He received a standing² ovation³（起立致敬） from MPs - though some boycotted⁴ the event.

The visit may be one of his most difficult to date, with strong protests expected against his teachings.

Several thousand protesters gathered in Berlin's Potsdamer Platz bearing messages such as "Pope, go home!"

Before arriving, the Pope said he did not object to such protests, saying: "It is part of our freedom and we must acknowledge that secularism⁵（世俗主义） and opposition⁶ to Catholicism in our societies is strong."

After being greeted at Berlin's Tegel airport by an artillery⁷（火炮，大炮） salute⁸ and a guard of honour, the pontiff was welcomed by Chancellor⁹ Angela Merkel and President Christian Wulff.

Visiting Mr Wulff's residence in the city, Pope Benedict said: "I am not here first and foremost... to follow particular political, or economic, aims but to meet the people and to speak to them about God."

In the evening, the Pope was saying an open-air Mass at Berlin's Olympic Stadium.

The stadium, where Hitler hosted the 1936 games, is now a popular sporting and entertainment venue¹⁰, and some 70,000 people were expected to attend the Mass.

Protestant heartland

At parliament, the Pope told MPs that it was Christianity which provided the basis of Europe's legal and political systems, and their focus on "the inviolability（不可侵犯） of human rights".

He praised the work of the Green movement in Germany in fostering respect for the environment - even though members of the Green party were among dozens of MPs who boycotted the speech, out of opposition to Catholic teaching or concern that the event undermined the separation of church and state.

The 84-year-old pontiff（主教，教皇） will travel widely across the country, where there are officially 25 million Catholics - one in three of the population.