Pope Benedict XVI speaks onboard an Alitalia plane before landing on the Tegel airport tarmac on September 22, 2011 in Berlin, for his first state visit to his native Germany. The 84-year old pope, German born Joseph Ratzinger, has a packed program, with 18 sermons and speeches planned for his four-day trip to Berlin, Erfurt in the ex-German Democratic Republic and Freiburg. AFP PHOTO / ALBERTO PIZZOLI