Pope off to W. Germany on a ticklish pilgrimage

November 14, 1980

Pope John Paul II goes to West Germany Saturday on perhaps the most delicate pilgrimage of his two-year pontificate.Already his visit to the country of Martin Luther's Reformation has rekindled some of the disputes that led to the great schism in the Roman Catholic Church 450 years ago. But Pope John Paul indicates he is prepared to make concessions in the interest of ecumenism. He not only intends to make a strong plea for Christian unity but is also expected to admit that the Catholic Church must bear part of the blame for the split, Vatican sources said.