LONDON LETTER:The Catholic Church says that security rules will make it difficult for the faithful to attend, writes MARK HENNESSY
JUST HOURS away from the beginning of Pope Benedict’s visit to England and Scotland, the Catholic Church is nervous.
His enemies believe his visit should be the stage for mass protests against the Vatican; his supporters hope for a show of support. Mostly, however, the British public is meeting the occasion of Pope Benedict’s visit with indifference.
Despite months of planning for the worst, British police forces now seem confident that the visit will not be targeted by unruly demonstrators, though security will not be relaxed until after his aircraft has taken off for home.
The invitation to make a state visit to the UK was made to Pope Benedict last year by the former prime minister, Presbyterian Gordon Brown, when he was received at the Vatican; though it was always believed that Mr Brown’s predecessor, Tony Blair, who converted to Catholicism after he quit Downing Street, had wanted to host a Papal visit during his time in office.
Much has changed since Pope John Paul II came to the UK on a pastoral visit in 1982 during the Falklands War. He spent six days being greeted like a rock-star as he travelled throughout Britain. In Liverpool, one million lined the seven-mile route from the city’s airport to its Anglican and Catholic cathedrals. Three hundred and fifty thousand came out in Coventry; 200,000 in Manchester; and 190,000 in York.
The 1982 visit faced its own crises. Indeed, it only went ahead after a desperate effort by the Archbishop of Liverpool to persuade the Pope not to cancel everything four days out because of his anger at the British invasion of the Falklands and his refusal to meet with then-British prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, as protocol would have allowed. In the end, the two did not meet.
However, 1982 is not just a foreign land for the Catholic Church, but also for the Church of England and many other Christian religions. The UK has in the three decades since become an increasingly secular society, less inclined to listen to religious figures, and where those who still see themselves as believers increasingly adopt an a la carte attitude to their faith.
An opinion poll published by the Catholic magazine, The Tablet, earlier this month found that just a quarter of those polled from the general population, not just Catholics, actively supported the idea of a state visit for Pope Benedict, while only 24 per cent believed the Catholic Church is a force for good. Only 36 per cent of those polled strongly agreed that religions of any kind are a force for good.
Pope Benedict is not Pope John Paul, who arrived in England as the survivor of an assassination attempt. Neither does he enjoy the communication skills possessed by the Polish pope. He has been damaged in the public eye by his handling of child-abuse cases involving priests – the ultimate responsibility for which lies at the door of his better-loved predecessor.
Nevertheless, Benedict has been pope for five years, and, yet, The Tablet’s opinion poll showed that more people recognised Prince Charles, X Factor entertainment guru Simon Cowell and England soccer manager Fabio Capello than the pope; though he did better than the Church of England Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, who was identified by just 50 per cent of those polled.
In a letter to the Guardian yesterday, opponents of the visit, including actor Stephen Fry, academic Richard Dawkins and writer Terry Prachett, insisted the pope should not be given the honour of a state visit.
They argued that the Vatican is responsible for opposing the distribution of condoms, so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of Aids, and promoting segregated education. It had sought to deny abortion to “even the most vulnerable women”; opposes equal rights for gay people; and failed to address “the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation”. “In any case, we reject the masquerading of the Holy See as a state and the pope as a head of state as merely a convenient fiction to amplify the international influence of the Vatican,” said the group.
Questioned about the last-minute preparations on Tuesday, leading British Catholic Chris Patten, who is Prime Minister David Cameron’s liaison for the visit with the church, denied responsibility for the crowds that will greet the pope. Such are matters for the Catholic Church, he was quick to point out.
The crowds will be a fraction of those of 1982. The church has grumbled that security rules have made it tougher than it should be for the faithful to attend.
Patten’s quick footwork in front of the cameras tell much about this visit: in 1982, many wanted to claim credit later; in 2010, it is about wanting to avoid blame.