What is the purpose of Pope John Paul’s visit to Germany?

Pope John Paul in a visit to Germany is trying to ease the historic division between Catholics and Protestants by saying both groups share blame for the 16th century schism led by Martin Luther. VOA’s Karl King reports while praising four German church figures for their opposition to Nazism, the Pope pulled back from prepared remarks defending the church’s role during the Hitler regime. Church official has no explanation for the Pope’s decision to omit remarks from a prepared speech he delivered at an open-air Mass outside the northwestern city of Patagorn. The remarks which were in the text delivered to reporters before the event defended the church’s role during the Nazi time and claimed the church played a broad role in resistance to Hitler. Analysts who were watching the Pope’s visit say the remarks he dropped from his Mass had appeared to contradict his own bishops in Germany who said the church did not do enough to resist the Nazi regime. On Sunday, the Pope travels to Berlin where he will beatify a priest who died in jail after giving sermons against the persecution of the Jews and another who was sent to a concentration camp for expressing regret that Hitler did not die in an assassination attempt. Analysts say the Pope’s 3-day visit is aimed at shoring up support in Germany where there has been some descent to authority in Rome. More than one million Catholics in Germany signed a petition last year asking the Pope to relax his opposition to birth control. So far the Pontiff has shown no sign of giving in to the demand.