Pope to pay respects at Austrian Holocaust monument

Pope Benedict will pause briefly at a monument for Holocaust victims on the first day of his September 7-10 trip to Austria, the Vatican said on Friday.

The German-born Pontiff visited the former Nazi concentration camp Auschwitz last year. He called himself "a son of Germany" and asked why God was silent when 1.5 million victims, mostly Jews, died there.

The Pope's agenda calls for a five-minute pause at the monument to Austrian victims of the Holocaust, located at Vienna's Judenplatz (Jewish Square).

He will continue to the Vatican's diplomatic mission and later meet Austria's president, the Vatican said.