The end of the papal road trip.

Pope gives encouraging talk to priests at the end of six-day trip to native Germany

Pope Benedict XVI set aside his sermon and gave an encouraging talk to priests Thursday in the cathedral where he was ordained -- a spontaneous gesture ending a nostalgic, six-day homecoming to Bavaria.

"I brought a long sermon, but I won't give it; you can get it in print later,'' he told the dozens of clergy gathered in the cathedral in Freising outside Munich, to a burst of applause.

Benedict, 79, stressed to the priests the value of their difficult vocations, saying, "God needs people, he needs people who will say, 'I am ready to help with your harvest.'''

"We priests have become few,'' he acknowledged, but won more applause by adding, "We are really here -- there are priests both young and old!''

He told them he no longer had the strength to do everything, and needed help from others like them in the church.