COLOGNE, Germany, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI arrived in Germany Thursday on his first foreign visit as pontiff to participate in the World Youth Day jamboree in Cologne.
German President Horst Koehler was on the tarmac to greet the pope when his Alitalia jet landed from Rome.
During his stay, the Pope plans to meet representatives of Germany's Protestant churches, and also Muslims and Jews, the BBC said.
As many as 1 million people are expected to take part in the world youth activities, which culminate Sunday with an open-air Mass by Benedict, about 17 miles outside the city. The pope is in his fourth month of leading the Roman Catholic church, and is the first German pontiff in 1,000 years.
The youth gathering was inaugurated by the late Pope John Paul II, is held in a different part of the world every three years. Three years ago in Toronto, the late pope promised to see the throngs in Cologne this year.
