Pope Benedict XVI Wraps Up Historical UK Visit
- 14 years ago
Pope Benedict XVI wraps up an historic visit to Britain on Sunday at an open-air ceremony in Birmingham.
Thousands gathered at a park in the British midlands to get a glimpse of the Pope and to listen to his sermon.
On the same day, Britons commemorated the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Britain, which prevented Hitler's planned invasion of the country.
The Pope addressed the death and destruction inflicted on Europe by his German homeland in World War Two.
[Pope Benedict XVI]:
"For me, as one who lived and suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany, it is deeply moving to be here with you on this occasion and to recall how many of your fellow citizens sacrificed their lives, courageously resisting the forces of that evil ideology."
As a child, he was part of Hitler Youth when membership was compulsory.
During the war he deserted after serving in the Nazi armed forces as a young man, and was an American Prisoner Of War at the end of WWII.
It was the pope's second public praise of Britain's people for standing up to the Nazi tyranny.
During the ceremony, Pope Benedict also beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of England's most prominent converts from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.
Thousands gathered at a park in the British midlands to get a glimpse of the Pope and to listen to his sermon.
On the same day, Britons commemorated the 70th anniversary of the victory of the Battle of Britain, which prevented Hitler's planned invasion of the country.
The Pope addressed the death and destruction inflicted on Europe by his German homeland in World War Two.
[Pope Benedict XVI]:
"For me, as one who lived and suffered through the dark days of the Nazi regime in Germany, it is deeply moving to be here with you on this occasion and to recall how many of your fellow citizens sacrificed their lives, courageously resisting the forces of that evil ideology."
As a child, he was part of Hitler Youth when membership was compulsory.
During the war he deserted after serving in the Nazi armed forces as a young man, and was an American Prisoner Of War at the end of WWII.
It was the pope's second public praise of Britain's people for standing up to the Nazi tyranny.
During the ceremony, Pope Benedict also beatified Cardinal John Henry Newman, one of England's most prominent converts from Anglicanism to Roman Catholicism.