Pope praises Martin Luther's "struggle" at Erfurt meeting

Erfurt, Germany - Pope Benedict XVI praised Reformation founder Martin Luther for his lifetime of "theological searching and inner struggle" at an historic meeting with Protestant leaders in the German city of Erfurt on Friday.

Benedict met senior German Lutheran bishops in a building where Luther (1483-1546) had been a young Catholic priest before rebelling against the Catholic Church.

"As the Bishop of Rome, it is deeply moving for me to be meeting representatives of the .. Lutheran Church .... This is where Luther studied theology. This is where he was ordained a priest in 1507," Benedict said, according to a text issued by the Vatican.

"What constantly exercised him was the question of God, the deep passion and driving force of his whole life's journey." 

He said Luther's questions about God "struck him in the heart and lay at the foundation of all his theological searching and inner struggle."//DPA