Pope aims to revive German Catholicism on home tour

MUNICH, Germany, Sep 8 (Reuters) Pope Benedict hopes his homecoming this weekend to the Catholic heartland of Bavaria will revive faith in Germany as more than half a million pilgrims prepare to welcome him.

The visit, from September 9 to 14, starts in the state capital of Munich, best known for its beer and sausages. The pontiff will travel to his birthplace Marktl, in Germany's southeastern corner near the Austrian border, and other Bavarian towns.

It is his second trip to Germany as Pope after last year going to the northern city of Cologne for World Youth Day.

''With all my heart, I want the visit to my homeland to reawaken the joy in Christianity,'' Benedict wrote in a letter to church paper, the Muenchner Kirchenzeitung.

At a time when Catholicism is losing its appeal to many Germans, the Pope also said he hoped he would revive Bavaria's traditional Christian community.

''I hope more young people will overcome their doubts about the sustainability of the church and will decide to take up their calling and become priests,'' he wrote.

With its onion-domed churches, crosses along country paths and saints' portraits on houses, Catholicism is deeply rooted in Bavarian culture.

Germany's roughly 26 million Catholics make up about a third of the population, or about equal to registered Protestants who lack a figure comparable to the Pope -- unless you count Martin Luther who inspired the reformation.

Although viewed as an arch-conservative when he was the Vatican's doctrinal watchdog, Germans are proud to have a fellow countryman as pontiff.

''To have a German Pope again after over 500 years has strengthened the overall mood in Germany,'' Bavarian state premier Edmund Stoiber told top-selling Bild newspaper. He says the visit is the event of the millennium for Bavaria.

As well as stopping off in the village of Marktl with its 2,700 inhabitants, Benedict will visit one of Germany's holiest shrines in Altoetting and go to Regensburg where he taught theology.

He will spend a day with his brother, Georg, in Regensburg and together they will visit their parents' and sister's graves.

However, the Pope will also face criticism.

Campaigners will demonstrate against his rejection of homosexuality and Catholic liberals have taken the opportunity to call for reforms, including allowing women and married men to become priests and abolishing mandatory celibacy for priests.

REUTERS MS MIR BST1612