Papal visit to the United Kingdom, 2010

{{Christianity}}
{{cquote|What? WHAT? Bring in the papists! Oh, you cunning Jesuits, you... What you thought I was like little Boney and would turn Turk or anything? But if you have no faith or conscience, '''I''' have! Oy, and a little old Protestant spunk, too! So out with you all! Out, with all of your broad-bottomed popish plots! Out with you! OUT, OUT, OUT!|30px|30px|King {{wpl|King George III|George III}}, in an 1807 {{wpl|File:A-Kick-at-the-Broad-Bottoms-Gillray.jpeg|satirical painting}} by James Gillray}}
'''[[Pope]] [[Benedict XVI]] visited the [[UK]]''' from  September 16 to September 19, 2010 following a formal invitation from the then Prime Minister [[Gordon Brown]] in 2009.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8271556.stm Brown invites Pope]</ref> Turnout for the major events of the visit was below expectations. <ref>[http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/pope-benedict-visit-to-britain-hit-247479 Pope Benedict visit to Britain hit by mass apathy]</ref>

His Unholiness began the visit in [[Scotland]] where he was greeted by [[Elizabeth II|the Queen]].  The Pope then travelled by helicopter to Glasgow, to hold [[Mass (religion)|mass]]. Later he preached in Westminster Hall and made an address to Members of Parliament and peers.

==Controversies==
Of course, in these modern times, [[tax|tax-payer]] funded visits by religious leaders are hardly likely to pass by without a little controversy. The main ones are outlined below in roughly the order they were revealed. Some were in the runup to the visit, while some happened during it.

===Dawkins to arrest Pope shock!!===
In April 2010 ''The Times'' newspaper ran a report claiming that [[Richard Dawkins]] was personally planning to perform a citizen's arrest on the Pope when he arrived in the UK.<ref>[http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7094310.ece The Times - Richard Dawkins calls for arrest of Pope Benedict XVI]</ref>  The Pope was to be charged as a consequence of his involvement in the [[Priest molestation scandal|multiple child abuse scandals]] which the [[Roman Catholic Church]] has been responsible for covering up. 

It subsequently emerged that Dawkins had made no such claim — and that he didn't even instigate it — although he voiced his strong support for those investigating the possibility of legal action.<ref>[http://richarddawkins.net/articles/5415 Dawkins clears up the Times story]</ref>

===The mock memo and the "Benedict brand" condoms===
In April 2010 a "mock" memo was circulated and leaked to the ''Daily Telegraph''.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/7628752/Ministers-apologise-for-insult-to-Pope.html Original ''Telegraph'' article]</ref> The ''Telegraph'' included a link to a copy of the memo which included the suggestions shown below.<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01623/pope2_1623149a.jpg Original of the mock memo]</ref>  However other newspapers have also referred to other suggestions such as "singing a duet with the queen".  These do not appear on the ''Telegraph'' link which suggests that either the data released by the ''Telegraph'' is part of a larger document or that some [[deceit|journalistic inventiveness]] may have been at work. 

;Launch of 'Benedict' condoms
:OK, this one was a bit cheeky.

;Review of [[Vatican]] attitude on condom use
:An excellent idea.

;Bless a civil partnership
:An excellent idea. (Although the couple may prefer to go without as they chose to have a [[Civil union|civil partnership]] instead of a religious service.)

;Reversal of policy on female bishops/ordain women
:Well, they ''are'' short of bishops, and their present policy would appear to contravene sexual discrimination laws (except that strange exception for religions).

;Open an abortion ward
:This may be asking a lot. (They have wards for [[abortion]]s?)

;Speech on equality
:And the problem with speaking about equality is?

;Statement on views over adoption (change of stance)
:Perhaps more detail needed.

;Training course for all bishops on [[child abuse]] allegations
:Does the Vatican think this is a bad idea?  Their previous best idea was to [[Crimen Solicitationis|pressurize the victim into silence]] while in most cases the abuser had chances to go for other victims.

;Harder line on child abuse — announce sacking of dodgy bishops
:Is this the insulting suggestion?

;Vatican sponsorship for network of [[AIDS]] clinics
:Do they have something against charitable hospices?

;Meet young unemployed people
:Can this be a bad idea?

;Apologize for ...
:Perhaps a lack of detail here.

;Canonise/pseudo canonise a group
:Perhaps a lack of detail here.

;Announce whistle blowing system for child abuse cases
:The Church actually did this in [[Germany]]. What do they have against doing it in the [[UK]]?

;Go to job centre
:Why not?

;Debate on abortion
:This could be most interesting.

;All [[Roman Catholic]] schools should be free entry to all
:And this is offensive because?

;Speech on democracy
:What is the problem here?  Is the church so afraid of [[democracy]] that it can't speak about it?

;Vatican and [[C of E]] funded committee on dialogue
:Oh no!  Not dialogue!

;Launch helpline for abused children
:Again, they did this in Germany. Why not in the UK?

====Vatican response====
Although all of these suggestions seem very reasonable, the official responsible was punished for suggesting that the Pope would consider doing anything so positive. (Specifically, by being ... quietly moved sideways to another job.) It would, in fact, be interesting to learn which of the suggestions was thought to be so "offensive".

Notwithstanding the sensible nature of the majority of these claims a Vatican spokesperson was quoted as saying:<ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/7632259/Pope-could-cancel-UK-visit-over-offensive-Foreign-Office-memo.html Pope could cancel visit]</ref>

{{cquote|It is disgusting. Britain’s ambassador to the Holy See has been in to see the Secretary of State and explain what happened and this will all be relayed to the Pope. It’s even possible the trip could be cancelled as this matter is hugely offensive.}}

Journalist Johann Hari noted:<ref>http://twitter.com/johannhari101/status/12847491527</ref>

{{cquote|The Pope calls British memo joking about him "offensive." You know what I find offensive? RAPING CHILDREN. THOUSANDS. FOR YEARS.}}

==="Third World" jibe===
In the runup to the official visit, Cardinal Walter Kasper was asked his opinions regarding the apparent opposition to the Pope's visit in the UK. His response, as printed in the German magazine ''Focus'', was fairly blunt:

{{cquote|''England is now a secular, pluralistic country. When you land at Heathrow Airport, you sometimes think you had landed in a [[Third World|third world]] country. Particularly in England, an aggressive [[New Atheism]] is widespread. If you wear a cross at British Airways, you will be discriminated against. But we want to show our [[faith]] in public. Anyone who knows England knows that there is also a great Christian tradition. [[Europe]] would no longer be Europe if it could not preserve this tradition.''}}

This was to set the tone of the visit to come, branding [[atheism]] as "anti-catholic" and any form of [[secularism]] as "aggressive" or "extreme".

[[Peter Hitchens]], of the [[right wing]] rag ''[[The Daily Mail]]'', seemed to take issue with the backlash against Kasper's comment, stating that if UK liberal icon Stephen Fry had said such a thing, it would have been the height of wit. Hitchens, of course, had completely ignored the context of the quote (the UK's multiculturalism) and assumed that it was a jibe against the shabby state of Heathrow.<ref>[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1313247/PETER-HITCHENS-Will-turn-dust-ashes-just-like-Soviet-roubles.html The Mail Online - Peter Hitchens]</ref>

An aide to the Archbishop of Westminster stated that laws favouring the [[gay rights]] agenda, the [[pro-choice]] agenda and anti-family legislation (presumably that means allowing people in unhappy [[marriage]]s to [[divorce]]) had turned Britain into a “selfish, hedonistic wasteland”  The aide was criticised by other leading British Roman Catholics opposed to the commercial exploitation of women for sex but apparently thinks a woman who is sexually exploited in an abusive marriage should stay with her husband.

===Nazism===
[[File:Joseph A. Ratzinger (36248178456).png|thumb|160px|right|Yes, Joe Ratzinger was a Hitlerjugend member. Whether he should be judged as such or not depends on your level of cynicism.]]
Despite being a man who actually lived through [[Second World War|the war]] in Germany and being an ex-member of the Hitler Youth (whether he attended the meetings or otherwise),<ref>http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/vaticancityandholysee/5314338/Dont-mention-the-Popes-Hitler-Youth-past-says-the-Vatican.html</ref> and thus should know better, the Pope decided to pull a riotously funny [[Godwin]] by comparing atheists to Nazis.<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11332515 BBC News - Pope speech compares atheist 'extremism' with Nazism]</ref><ref>[http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk/Replay-the-Visit/Speeches/Speeches-16-September/Pope-Benedict-XVI-s-Speech-to-The-Queen Full transcript of the speech]</ref>

{{cquote|''"As we reflect on the sobering lessons of the atheist extremism of the 20th century, let us never forget how the exclusion of God, religion and virtue from public life leads ultimately to a truncated vision of man and of society.''}}

To be completely fair, Benedict and his family were vehemently anti-Nazi. His father, Joseph Ratzinger, Sr., had the balls to give Hitler's Brown Shirts and the [[SS]] the proverbial middle finger even at the risk of getting disenfranchised which forced the Ratzingers to move frequently.<ref>''International Herald Tribune'' 22 April 2005. "A boy's dreams lead from a village to the Vatican" (reprinted from ''The New York Times'')</ref> And while a neighbor from Traunstein, Elizabeth Lohner, brought up the skeletons in Ben's closet and asserted that Benedict and his brother should've just resisted further, membership in the Hitler Youth is mandatory as of 1939 and thus the Ratzingers had next to no choice under the pain of further reprisal from the authorities. A sympathetic maths teacher did however help him with resisting the regime by waiving the meetings the young Ratzinger had to attend at the time.<ref>USA Today (2005-04-23). "New Pope Defied Nazis As Teen During WWII". USA Today. Retrieved 16 September 2010.</ref><ref>Zenit News Agency (12 May 2009). [http://www.zenit.org/article-25888?l=english "German Pope's Past Misrepresented"]. Retrieved 16 September 2010.</ref> That being said, Ratzinger's comparison with irreligion to Nazism shows his duplicity and questionable opinions especially considering his previous (reluctant) association with the Nazis. Of course, who in the UK hasn't partaken in our national pastime of flying planes into skyscrapers while shouting "Praise Richard Dawkins" - and who remembers that time Johann Hari personally murdered 6 million people wearing a belt inscribed with "God Isn't With Us". And of course [[Hitler]] invented [[Positive Christianity]].

===Censorship===
After the worthy pope and cardinal felt free to offend the whole British nation with the third world jibe, also to offend all atheists,the RC’s were very sensitive when they themselves were criticised.  Round the time of the papal visit a Scottish referee sent a modest joke by email which did no more than warn kids to be cautious because the pope was around.  The RC church demanded that he and others be punished and they were sacked.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/9230531.stm</ref> [http://archive.li/rdt7h Here is a link to the picture with that joke] so readers can judge for themselves, is that offensive?  With their record the RC’s really have no reason to be self-righteous.  After an apology the sacked men were reinstated.<ref>http://news.scotsman.com/news/Sacked-39Pope-joke39-trio-win.6683775.jp</ref> Why did they need to apologise?<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/9225458.stm</ref>

==Cardinal Newman==
During the visit Bennie beatified Cardinal Newman and strongly denied suspicions that Newman was [[gay]] so [[Peter Tatchell]] asks: 
{{quotebox|How can the Vatican be so sure? Were its spies in Newman's bedroom every night of his life? <ref>http://www.petertatchell.net/religion/wascardinalnewmangay.htm</ref> }}

Newman wanted to be buried alongside his long-time 
lover
 platonic same-sex friend, then the RC's insisted on removing his remains; they could find no more than brass handles to his coffin and a brass plate, sadly.  There is a dubious claim that Newman performed a [[miracle]] and Newman, who knew his own conscience, did not consider himself a saint: 
<blockquote>I have no tendency to be a saint — it is a sad thing to say so. Saints are not literary men...<ref>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article7113421.ece</ref>
<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_8720000/8720596.stm</ref></blockquote>

Newman’s excuse for unsaintliness, that literary men are not saints, is inconsistent with RC practices.  Both [[Augustine of Hippo]] and [[Thomas Aquinas]] wrote works considered inspiring and both were declared saints at the time of Newman.<ref>Also this [[Duns Scotus|literary dunce]] was beatified but that was after Newman's time.</ref>  There appears to have been some different, more [[sin]]ful reason why Newman was sure he was no saint. 

Newman also said that old popes become corrupted by power, surrounded by people who do not contradict them; unfortunately the Pope Palpatine didn't see a need to heed these wise words.

==Nature and cost of the visit==
As the Pope's visit was a "State Visit" it cost the UK taxpayers up to £20 million.<ref>[http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/291140 Cost of visit]</ref>  For this reason some campaigners wanted the visit downgraded to a  "Pastoral Visit" as in that case the cost would have fallen on the Catholic Church. Arguments for this mostly rested on whether the [[Vatican]] indeed counted as an ''actual'' state, and even so, whether the UK would benefit from such a visit - as most state visits are for diplomatic relations, and there is little chance of armed hostilities breaking out between the UK and the Vatican (a "Mouse that Roared" scenario being rather far-fetched).

==External links==
*[http://www.thepapalvisit.org.uk Official website]
*[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_0kFU7IfPM&feature=player_embedded#! Richard Dawkins' speech at Protest the Pope march] on [[YouTube]]

==References==
{{reflist|2|90%}}

[[Category:Religious leaders]]
[[Category:Catholicism]]
[[Category:British comedy]]

Categories: Religious leaders, Catholicism, British comedy