COLOGNE, Germany - Pope Benedict XVI met with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder on Saturday ahead of a scheduled meeting with Muslim leaders from Germany's Turkish community, part of an effort to improve interfaith relations.

The meeting follows a visit Friday to Cologne's synagogue, where Benedict was warmly received by Jewish officials for his remarks urging better Jewish-Christian relations and warning of rising anti-Semitism.

Reaching out to Jews and Muslims is one of the main themes of his trip, along with his effort to evangelize a Europe that many think is forgetting its Christian heritage.

Benedict began his day by meeting in private with Schroeder. He also met with Angela Merkel, Schroeder's conservative challenger in Sept. 18 national elections.

Afterward, Merkel, leader of the Christian Democratic Union and the daughter of a Protestant minister, said: "It was a great joy to see the Holy Father. It was great to meet a German pope on German soil."

Schroeder, also Protestant, as are about a third of Germans, had no immediate public comment.

When he meets with Muslim leaders, Benedict will be greeted at the meeting by Rydvan Cakir, president of the Turkish-Islamic Union of the Institute of Religion, a social and religious group. Some 2.6 million people of Turkish origin live in Germany.

Since becoming pope, Benedict has steered a cautious course on Islam, saying little besides condemning the terrorist bombings in London as the work of "fanatics" who don't represent true Muslim faith.

Some Turks were dismayed when he became pope, however, because of remarks he made in his earlier role as the Vatican's chief of doctrine on the nature of multiculturalism and specifically about Turkey's aspirations to join the European Union. He has said that multiculturalism is "fleeing from what is one's own" and urged Europe to return to its Christian roots, alarming some who see Turkey's future as part of a religiously diverse Europe.

And he said in an interview with the French publication Le Figaro that "Turkey has always represented a different continent, in permanent contrast to Europe."

After the day's meetings, Benedict will move to the Marienfeld, a former coal mine outside Cologne for an outdoor evening service as part of World Youth Day, the Catholic youth festival that has drawn more than 400,000 young people.

Many of the pilgrims at the Saturday vigil are expected to spend the night under the open sky to attend Sunday morning's concluding Mass celebrated by Benedict. Organizers say they expect as many as 1 million to attend.