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Anger, apathy, ridicule: here comes the Pope
Benedict asks for prayers on the eve of his British visit - not a bad idea, the way things are looking
Doubtless there are members of the Roman Catholic Church waiting with bated breath for the arrival in Britain on Thursday of their leader on earth, Pope Benedict XVI. But the majority of British people, it appears, will greet the papal visit with apathy, anger and not a little ridicule.
At least the ridicule won't be as bad as it might have been.
Wayne Rooney, brought up a Catholic, will not be on hand for Benedict's meeting with schoolchildren on Friday. A Wayne-Benedict moment was under consideration by the Catholic bishops planning the four-day trip, but someone with extraordinary foresight canned the idea.
Nor will the Pope be meeting England football manager Fabio Capello or TV presenter Dec (Declan Donnelly) of Ant and Dec fame, both of whom are practising Catholics.
Neither was considered suitably heavyweight to mark such an historic occasion - the first papal state visit to Britain since Henry VIII broke with Rome in 1534. (Pope John Paul II's visit in 1982 was "purely pastoral" according to the Vatican and doesn't really count.)
Back to the ridicule. A pamphlet has been produced by the Papal Visit Team for those non-Catholics who might find themselves in close proximity to the papal entourage - police officers, broadcasters, rosary sellers - but who are unsure what all the funny words mean.
The pamphlet's handy glossary translates 'Benediction' as 'gig' and 'Blessed Sacrament' as 'bread and wine' and describes the Pope himself as 'a headline act'. The Mail on Sunday quoted a 'senior Catholic insider' as saying the pamphlet made him "cringe" with embarrassment while a Downing Street source said it had prompted "a rolling of eyes".
So much for the ridicule. The anger, of course, is mainly to do with Benedict's reluctance to respond to the various campaigns for compensation for victims of child abuse by Catholic priests.
Some of those victims, along with human rights activists and reform-minded Catholics, will be out in force to demonstrate against the Pope's visit.
Many of those reform-minded Catholics would also like the ultra-conservative Benedict to join the 21st century on such issues as celibacy and the ordination of women. Not a chance - only this summer, the Vatican ruled the latter "a crime against the faith".
Now, according to the Sunday Times, we can add to the list of the aggrieved the BBC TV licence-payers - in other words, everyone.
Director-General Mark Thompson, who is said to be even more devout a Catholic than Wayne or Dec - possibly even Fabio - has reportedly ordered wall-to-wall coverage of the papal visit, involving an estimated 300 to 400 corporation personnel.
This is despite the fact that most of the live coverage will be shown while people are at work - and despite continued carping in Tory circles at the Beeb's excessive staffing of similar big-ticket events.
The taxpayer has reason to be upset, too. It turns out that as many as 30 Vatican officials travelling in the Pope's entourage are to be put up - at our expense - at the Goring Hotel in Belgravia where the cheapest room is £370 a night. They are also to be given £150-a-day 'walking around money' - again, at taxpayers' expense.
Finally, the apathy. A poll conducted on behalf of the theology think tank Theos gives the Vatican scant encouragement that the Pope's British 'gig' will be a hit.
The survey found that 79 per cent of respondents had "no personal interest" in the papal visit and 77 per cent felt there was no reason why taxpayers should fork out for the cost of it, even though Benedict was invited.
Little wonder the Pope has asked the faithful to pray for him on his trip to Britain. "I ask you all to accompany me with your prayers in this apostolic voyage," he told pilgrims visiting Castel Gandolfo, his summer residence south of Rome, at the weekend. ·
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john price "......blah,blah,blah...otherwise sane and rational human beings virtually foam at the mouth..... blah blah blah." We also foam at the mouth at paedo rings and the networks that sustain them who dont wear dog collars and have venerable positions in several sectors of society. ".....blah,blah,blah....I taught for six years .... saw no improper behaviour....blah blah blah..." If you HAD noticed improper behaviour and reported it not much would have changed would it? Not if the reports had got to Cardinal Ratzinger. Note to ALL Catholics, the anger is not driven by the media and their dumb gullible consumers, The anger is driven by varied sectors of "otherwise sane and rational" society (sorry i couldn't resits) and the media do what the media do. Clear out your paedos before you hope to defend your organisation (clearly different from your FAITH) against warranted scepticism at the very best, at worst, a revolution that applies the law fully (Read the SOCA remit - in a nutshell to "reduce the harm" of serious organised crime, it could so easily apply to the vaticans cover up).
Pray for him to have a vision of God handing him a big bag of condoms to give out to the poor.
That is ALOT of money when we all know the catholic church is very rich!
It would have been nicer if the pope had gone to Belgium, and comfort the people there who have been abused by his priests and told the priests who did the abuse how disgusted he is of the SHAME they have caused his church.
It's a SAD that England have to pay for all his bills and those with him.....
Although not keen on him I hope is trip is a safe one & he returns home 'safe and well'
e.a.o.e.
I taught for six years in a boys' boarding school run by Catholic priests. During that time I saw no improper behaviour, not even a hint of it. The priests varied from candidates for sainthood to intolerant bigots, in other words they were human beings. I would stop going to Mass if I thought for a moment at what happens on the altar had anything to do with the individual merits of the priest.
I see a number of protests in the offing, lets hope that gives the nazi a message that we don't want to see his ilk here for another 500 years at least.
To John Price-- You're so correct. The vituperative blather one reads and hears in the British press regarding anything Christian, but most particularly *anything* Roman Catholic, is embarrassing and ignorant in the extreme for a country that considers itself 'progressive' and, at one time, moderate. (In fact, I have no idea anymore how Brits got a reputation for moderation-- from screaming, drunken soccer 'fans' to punk rocker shenanigans to the psychotic hyperbole heard in the House of Commons, if anything it begs the question.....)
Let's call it what it is, folks: bigotry, pure and simple. And anyone with a head on his/her shoulders knows the ongoing sexual scandal has FAR more to do with predatory homosexuality than it does with paedophilia. And statistically the incidence of that in the Catholic Church is exactly, percentage-wise, what it is elsewhere... Just that your vaunted press chooses to vent its spleen in one direction only. Plus ca change.....
@John Price and rationality/irrationality. When others march Left-Right, Left-Right and you march Right-Left, Right-Left, Right-Left etc. are you the only one in step? Do yourself a favour John. Take a long hard look at yourself. .......Remember, traditions tend to develop to suit the times. They survive because they seem to work. But as time moves on, so the world changes. Some (all?) traditions eventually cease to be relevant. Those who blindly (pigheadedely?) cling to them can do massive harm to others. Blindly clinging to traditions is a from of closed minded, blinkered and myopic (non) thinking. It is totally irrational (unless you have a vested interest in preserving traditions for their own sakes, without regard for the harm that can do to people...rather like the hierarchy of the Catholic Church perhaps.).
Well just look at the double talk about "faith". Whose faith? An egotist's faith in a delusional ideology based on the exclusion of women, gays, Jews and Protestants. The man is a lizard with a forked tongue. Those with ears to hear will hear.
It has never ceased to amaze me how the Church is uniquely capable of bringing out uniquely irrational behaviour in certain people. Otherwise sane and rational human beings virtually start to foam at the mouth once the Church is mentioned.
@Marc Brown (above). I had a suspicion it was Blair, he and Popey are buddies (but, dishonestly, he kept it quiet during the years he wanted votes). Wouldn't it be fun if Popey got the eggs and shoes treatment. It may depend on the security but if Blair got it I'm sure it will be possible, after all, Popey is just the mortal representative!
Is John Price saying that thinking of women as being equal to men is a 'trendy opinion' that will go away after a while? Ooooh, good luck with that one, I suspect the Catholic Church has more chance of disappearing! Oh, and I think it was Tony Blair that originally invited the Pope. Another great legacy from Tony for us to enjoy and pay for!
I find it very strange that humanity persists in pursuing a religion that is obviously and completely ineffective. One would think that the Virgin Mary could be persuaded by constant prayer and supplication to protect the bottoms of all those little kids who have been sodomised by the priesthood for hundreds of years. If the object of such deep veneration, and, one would imagine, the possessor of the guardianship of virginity, cannot by divine intervention compel her representatives on Earth to refrain from one of the most heinous sins known to Man, her existence must be called into question. The whole religion is proven by its complete failure not to have any effectiveness in a most intimate matter. By the way, I can find no reference in the New Testament to Jesus of Nazareth appointing priests. A note to John Price: The current fashion is to question everything, including bogus religion. Tradition, apparently, is child buggery.
It would be nice if the Pope could hop on Eurostar whilst in the UK and visit the 500 paedophile priests in Beglium who also need all the prayers they can get.
It is a religious visit, perhaps just PR. Calling it a state visit seems disingenuous, just a reason to say taxpayers must foot the bill.
"even though Benedict was invited." Who invited him? S/he is the real culprit.
Let bus hope he gets the reception he deserves**...and listens.
(** something like the very Catholic "go forth and multiply".)
The Church is not interested in fashionable politically correct ideas. The Church is not bothered by current trendy opinions. Fashions will change. Tradition is the opposite of fashion.