Pope Benedict XVI sits next to German President Christian Wulff at the German Lower house of Parliament in the Reichstag on September 22, 2011 in Berlin, at the start of 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 / ODD ANDERSEN