Pope Benedict the 16th is in his native Germany for the biggest worldwide gathering of Catholics since the funeral of his predecessor Pope John Paul II. More than 400,000 young Catholics from nearly 200 countries welcomed the new pope to the Catholic stronghold of Cologne for World Youth Day. But as he receives a warm welcome there, he faces serious charges in the United States. Lawyers for the Pope have asked President Bush to declare the pontiff immune from liability in a lawsuit that accuses him of conspiring to cover up the molestation of three boys by a seminarian in Texas. According to The Chicago Sun Times, the Vatican’s embassy in Washington sent a diplomatic memo to the State Department on May 20 requesting the U.S. government grant the pope immunity because he is a head of state. A State Department spokesperson said this week that the pope is considered a head of state and automatically has diplomatic immunity.