The pope's visit to Austria comes at a time when relations between this overwhelmingly Roman Catholic country and its faith are increasingly strained.

More progressive church members criticized the pope on Thursday for neglecting the needs of communities in the pursuit of his conservative positions.

The group, We Are Church, had asked to meet the pope to discuss problems facing many other Catholic countries in western Europe, such as declining mass attendance and anger over pedophilia scandals. But their request was turned down. The liberal group embraces marriage for priests and the ordination of women -- two issues that the pope has opposed.

The pope, during a speech Friday, condemned abortion and euthanasia and called an European countries to admit to their Christian identity.

"Europe cannot and must not deny her Christian roots," he said. "These represent a dynamic component as we move forward into the third millennium," he said, adding that Christianity had "shaped this continent."

Strong Austrian link to Catholicism

Despite the waning influence of the church in Austria, the pope announced that "the culture of this country is deeply imbued with the message of Jesus Christ."

"An Austria without a vibrant Christian faith would no longer be Austria," the pontiff told several thousand people who braved the rain and gathered outside in a central Viennese square.

Pope prayed at Vienna Holocaust memorial

Pope Benedict also paid solemn tribute to Holocaust victims Friday, extending his "sadness, repentance and friendship" to the Jewish people.

The German-born pontiff joined Vienna's chief rabbi, Paul Chaim Eisenberg, in quiet prayer before a memorial commemorating the 65,000 Viennese Jews who perished in Nazi death camps and others burned at the stake in the 1400s after refusing to convert.

But the main stop of his three-day stay will be a visit to the pilgrimage site Mariazell on Saturday. The sanctuary, devoted to the veneration of the Virgin Mary, is celebrating its 850th anniversary.

Statistics show the Austrian Catholic Church has lost about one million followers since the late Pope John Paul II visited in 1983. Today, only 67 percent of Austrians are still officially Catholic, compared to almost 92 percent in 1900.