NO Fine for the Pope; He Can Relax

BERLIN — Pope Benedict XVI can cross an outstanding charge
of failing to use a seatbelt from his list of worries.

The southern German city of Freiburg on Wednesday (Nov. 30)
threw out charges against the pontiff for riding in his popemobile
without a seatbelt during a September visit. [He is also suspected of being unarmed. David]

“There will be no fine for the pope,” city spokeswoman Edith Lamersdorf,
told the daily Badische Zeitung. “The charges were quashed.”

Although there is a requirement in Germany to wear seatbelts,
even in slow-moving vehicles, city officials ruled that the law didn’t apply
in the pope’s case because the street on which he was spotted
without a seatbelt had been closed for public traffic the day of his visit.

Attorney Christian Sundermann had filed the complaint on
behalf of an unnamed German resident of Dortmund. Freiburg was
Benedict’s last stop during his September visit to his native Germany.

The unnamed plaintiff argued that the pope was seen several times during
the visit without a seat belt [and without a gun]. The complaint offered several
eyewitnesses, including the Archbishop of Freiburg, the head of the German
Conference of Bishops and the premier of the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Sundermann’s office had also entered a YouTube clip of the visit,
which shows Benedict touring in a German-made Mercedes-Benz
popemobile as possible evidence.

If found guilty, the pope could have faced fines of between 30 and
2,500 euros ($40 to $3,340).

Both the attorney and the plaintiff have said the move to press
charges was not an attack on the Church, but rather an effort
to raise awareness of the seat belt law and increase enforcement.