It is right and just

All right, one more post for BXVI's ninetieth birthday!  For it is truly right and just that the Pope Emeritus should have received visitors from his homeland — the (regional) prime minister of Bavaria and Alpine mountain troops — and that they should have brought with them pretzels, beer and music for a party that included his brother.

And he was moved to these words (as transcribed here) when called upon to extemporise a speech:

Mein Herz ist erfüllt von Dankbarkeit für die neunzig Jahre, die der Liebe Gott mir geschenkt hat. Da waren auch Prüfungen und schwere Zeiten, aber in allen hat Er mich immer weiter geführt, herausgeholt, sodass ich weiter gehen konnte und von Dank erfüllt bin, vor allem auch dafür, dass Er mir eine so schöne Heimat geschenkt hat, die jetzt unter euch bei mir präsent ist.

Bayern ist schön von der Schöpfung her. Das Land ist schön durch die Kirchtürme, die da sind, die Häuser mit den Balkons, mit Blumen, die Menschen, die gut sind. Es ist schön, weil man dort um Gott weiß und weiß, dass Er die Welt geschaffen hat und dass dies so richtig ist, wenn wir sie mit Ihm gestalten. So danke ich euch herzlich für diese Gegenwart Bayerns, die ihr mir vermittelt, eines Bayerns, das weltoffen, lebendig, fröhlich ist, aber es deswegen so sein kann, weil es im Glauben seine Wurzeln findet. Euch allen vergelt's Gott, vom Ministerpräsidenten angefangen bis zu euch allen. Ich freue mich, dass wir uns so schön beim blauen Himmel Roms versammeln konnten, der an den weiß-blauen Himmel der Bayernfahne auch erinnert, und es ist ja der gleiche Himmel.

Ich wünsche euch allen viel Segen Gottes. Bringt meine Grüße mit nach Hause, wie dankbar ich für euch bin und wie gern ich in meinem Herzen immer noch in Bayern herumwandere und lebe und hoffe, dass dies so bleiben wird. Vergelt's Gott.

My unburnished translation:

My heart is filled with gratitude for the ninety years that God has given me.  There have been trials and hard times, but in all of them He has always led me forwards and called me forth so that I could carry on; and I am filled with gratitude above all that He gave me such a beautiful homeland, which is present to me now through you.

Bavaria has been beautiful ever since its creation.  The country is lent its beauty by the church towers that there are; the houses with their balconies, with flowers; the people who are good.  It is beautiful because God is known to people there, and they know that He created the world and that it will be at rights if we build it with Him.  So I give you heartfelt thanks for this Bavarian presence that you share with me, a Bavaria that is open to the world, alive, joyful — and that can be thus because it has its roots in faith.  Thanks to you all, from the [regional] prime minister to all of you.  I am glad that we have been able to have such a lovely gathering under the blue sky of Rome, which is also a reminder of the blue-white heavens of the Bavarian flag, and indeed it is one and the same Heaven.

To you all I wish God's blessing.  Take home my greeting: how thankful I am for you and how I still love to wander in Bavaria in my heart, and live and hope that it will always be so.  Vergelt's Gott.

'Vergelt's Gott' means 'may God repay [you for] it', or 'may God reward you'.  My translation falls apart at the seams not least when translating 'Himmel' which in German means the sky and Heaven alike.

Of course we are all aware of the intelligence of the mind that produced these words, and, indeed, there it is lying just under the surface.  But what strikes me first about this speech is its homeliness.  German has a better word: Gemütlichkeit, which translates as 'cosiness' in one sense, and 'conviviality' in another, but in yet a third a comfort deeper than comfort.  It derives from the noun Gemüt, meaning 'disposition', or 'mind', or 'soul', so what is gemütlich is homely and comfortable to the very depths, and answers the longings of the very soul.  No wonder the Bavarian guests are addressed in the familiar second person, ihr and euch... He is simply Fr. Ratzinger, a diocesan priest of Munich-Freising, a humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.

Es ist ja der gleiche Himmel (Wallberg, Bayern).