Pope reaches last stop on German tour

Pope Benedict XVI has reached the final destination on a four-day trip to his German homeland.

Amid protests, difficult topics like paedophile priest scandals and religious and geographical divisions in the country, it has not always been a smooth visit.

But on his last stop, in mainly Catholic Freiburg in the southwest, he was guaranteed a warm welcome.

At the pontiff’s request, a meeting was arranged with ex-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, 81, making a rare public appearance. The Pope also met representatives of the Orthodox Church.

Earlier, ahead of a papal mass in Erfurt in eastern Germany, a man fired an air gun at security staff. The Vatican said the Pope was never in any danger.

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