Benedict XVI may be less willing to play to the crowds than his predecessor, John Paul II, but his public appearances still attract pilgrims and tourists in huge numbers.
Since his inauguration on April 24, 2005, nearly three million people have attended public gatherings such as general audiences and the Sunday prayers in St Peter's square.
These figures do not include the one million young people who turned out for World Youth Day in Cologne last August or the 200,000 people he met in Bari in May. According to Vatican experts, the average number of people who have come to the routine papal appearances, including liturgical celebrations, is higher than it was for Pope John Paul II at the same point in his pontificate.
The German pontiff's 32 general audiences in 2005 were attended by 810,000 people and his Sunday addresses by 1.4 million, according to figures from the prefecture of the Pontifical Household. "We should reflect on these enormous masses of people,"
Vatican spokesman JoaquÃn Navarro Valls told Vatican Radio on December 29.
"The number of people who come on Sunday to say the Angelus is truly amazing," he added.
