Pablo Blanco, author of 'The German Pope'. PHOTO: Manuel Castells

"30.18% of Germans - almost 25 million people - are Catholics, a figure that has recently surpassed that of Protestants in that country. Moreover, the current climate there has nothing to do with religious wars: the Pope will meet Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox, Jews and Muslims." Pablo Blanco, theologian of the University of Navarra and author of The German Pope, made these statements on the occasion of the Pope's apostolic visit to Germany, which takes place from September 22 to 25 under the motto 'Where God is, there is a future'.

For the professor of the University of Navarra, the interest of the trip lies especially in the fact that "it is a visit to the heart of Europe, right in the middle of the crises of its identity and the euro, and specifically to Germany, which is the European locomotive".

The German pope," adds Benedict XVI's biographer, "has always spoken of the ethical roots of the economic crisis. Added to this is the fact that he is going to meet with the Ossis, as the Germans living in the former German Democratic Republic are colloquially called".

This is Benedict XVI's twenty-first apostolic visit since his papal election. He will visit Berlin - with official visits to the German parliament and a Mass at the Olympiastadion, where Hitler called for total war -, Erfurt - Luther's Catholic city -, the Marian shrine of Etzelsbach and Freiburg in Freiburg. "Here he will hold a meeting with the members of the German Episcopal lecture and with the judges of the Federal Constitutional Court. This is possible in Germany," said Pablo Blanco.