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[fpb]

If I were the Pope, I would cancel the visit to Britain and say why.

Nobody is under any obligation to invite the Pope, or even to treat him with respect. But civilized people do not insult those they invited.

Comments

[fpb]

I'm afraid that it was a real memo. The author has been identified - not too hard, his name was on the thing - and transferred to other duties, and there have been strong apologies to the Vatican from both the Foreign Office and the Minister for Scotland. (The reason why the Minister for Scotland spoke is that in Britain there are two Catholic hierarchies, one for England and Wales and one for Scotland, and both authorities had invited the Pope.) The Vatican is apparently furious and seriously considering the cancellation option, because this is not an isolated incident, but the straw (some straw!) that broke the camel's back. For months now, the BBC and the leading newspapers - except for the Daily Telegraph - have been out-NewYorkTiming the New York Times in the matter of anti-papal cheap shots, false stories and general nastiness. Richard Dawkins and Chris Hitchens have claimed that they will perform a citizen's arrest on the Pope and lined up a lawyer who has made up a legal case for them - not just any lawyer either, but one of the most famous (if loathsome) Queen's Counsels (top lawyers) in the land. And now this. The Vatican must also have noticed that although the apologies have been abundant, they haven't come from the top: the Prime Minister, whose loathing of the Church is not only an open secret but easily visible in his and his cronies' political acts, has kept a stony silence, and so have the other two party leaders who might have replaced him before the visit takes place. And finally, although the insults involved not only the Pope but the Queen, nobody has been sacked: the culprit has simply been "assigned to other duties", not even disciplined or suspended. That is by all accounts because a much more senior figure had actually seen and okayed the paper. That is why I say that the Pope simply cannot lower his dignity to coming here. In the Catholic community there is much quoting of the Gospel's injunction to the Apostles to wipe the dust of a city who rejected them off their feet.