Pope to go home to a cat, honey and a dog called Igor

FROM TESS CRIBBIN IN PENTLING, GERMANY
THE NEIGHBOUR who cares for Pope Benedict XVI's home in Pending has planned the Pontiff's Wednesday homecoming in great detail.
"Waiting for him on the dining table in his house will be a very special surprise from me," said Rupert Hofbauer. "There will be several jars of honey from his own bees, from his own garden, and I am sure he is going to love this."
For many years Mr Hofbauer, a part-time beekeeper, has been keeping his bees in Pope Benedict's garden — with the approval of the Pope.
"I know he misses his house dearly, and he told me so when I visited him in Rome last year," Mr Hofbauer said. "He asked after his garden, the flowers, even the bees, and after our two animals: Chico, the cat, and Igor, the golden retriever."
Chico, Hofbauer said, has become somewhat big-headed since the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger became Pope.
"Whenever he sees a camera, he is there, putting himself into position," he said, laughing. "Chico is a cat with lots of character who loves being the centre of attention. He adores having a camera directed at him. We had countless journalists visiting here in the past two weeks and whenever Chico sees someone is getting a camera out he comes rushing forward."
Chico has become known as the "Pope's cat" because, when Pope Benedict was a cardinal he used to play with the ginger cat whenever it wandered into his garden.
"He always asks after our animals," said Mr Hofbauer, "so I know he really looks forward to seeing them again."
Mr Hofbauer said when he visited Pope Benedict he took a collection of photographs of the Pope's house and garden.
"The Pontiff was deeply touched," he said, "because, throughout the year, we had photographed the garden with the various stages of flowers in bloom or budding. When I watched him looking at these photos and noticed his joy, I really saw how much he missed his home. He took great interest in every single photograph, delighted at the sight of different colours of the various flowers, and seemed to be very much interested in everything that was happening in his garden back in Bavaria. His heart still is there to a large extent, if you ask me. It is not easy being Pope, because in accepting this position he has also lost his home, and t am sure this, at times, pains him."
Mr Hofbauer said the house has also been spruced up for the Pope's visit.
Anna Arco: Page 10