Pope Benedict XVI (R) blesses the audience next to praeses Nikolaus Schneider, president of the council of the German Evangelical Church, at the end of a mass at the protestant monastery of St. Augustin in Erfurt, eastern Germany, on September 23, 2011, on the second day 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 / POOL / NORBERT NEETZ