Over 320.000 people turned up at Coventry airport to welcome Pope John Paul II to Britain in 1982.
But Pope Benedict XVI’s biggest challenge in September 2010 will NOT be managing an excited airport crowd.
When the then 78 year- old Pontiff was elected Cardinal Ratzinger in 2005, The Good News Magazine reported that he will have large shoes to fill, following in the footsteps of John Paul II.
He immediately signalled his commitment to ecumenism in an address to leaders of world religions in April 25 2005, calling for
” a strong invitation to become together artisans of peace in a reciprocal commitment of comprehension, respect and love.”
But Pope Benedict’s attention in September might not be towards relations with other religions, but rather his reputation within Catholicism itself.
In May 2010, Reuters reported that the Pontiff acknowledged to reporters that the greatest persecution of the Church does not come from outside enemies but is born of sin within the Church.
The Pope made the statement to reporters on a trip to Portugal, when asked about the child sex abuse scandal-his biggest threat till date.
Heart Speaks Unto Heart
The Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales has reason to fear the changing attitudes towards the papacy as Pope Benedict’s September visit approaches.
In a 32 page booklet titled Heart Speaks unto Heart, the Catholic Church in England recently acknowledged that the papal visit comes at a time when the public associates the church with abuse:
“It is not easy to convey the richness of the tradition of Catholic thought, and Catholicism can easily become defined in the public mind in the light of one or two current controversies.
This is the gap in public knowledge that this pamphlet aims to address”
These “gaps in public knowledge” referred to by the Catholic Church’s recent PR campaign have widened over the years.
According to The Catholic Herald’s Features Editor Ed West, the church’s management of the sex abuse scandal has left much to be desired.
He said every response the church has made to the scandal seems to only exacerbate the situation.
Enter the National Secular Society
The rise of secularist pressure groups in Europe is not the least of challenges that the papacy has had to contend with.
In March 2010, the National Secular Society delivered a 28000 name petition to Downing Street, protesting any state funding of the Pope’s visit.
While the Papal trip to Britain in September is primarily a state visit, critics say British taxpayers should not be paying for what is essentially a religious visit.
A spokesperson for the Protest-the-Pope campaign, Paul Blanchard said British taxpayers do not pay for visits from the leader of Scientology and other religions. According to him, the Pope should be no exception.
But Catholic Theology student Julia Ohmany, argues that British taxpayers fund state visits by the Delai Lama and other religious figures.
In this regard, she argues that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit should not be construed as a waste of money.
According to many Catholics, British taxpayers fund abortions in the United Kingdom which they say amount to hundred thousands of pounds.
These figures, they say render insignificant the amount the British government will spend on the papal visit.
Pope John Paul’s 1982 Visit
While the controversy rages on over the appropriateness of the Papal trip and the associated scandals, it is worth recalling that Pope John Paul’s 1982 trip to Britain was not exactly trouble- free.
His visit coincided with enormous political tension between Britain and Argentina in the Falklands war.
As such, there were speculations at the time that he would cancel the visit in an attempt to avoid being portayed as biased towards any side.
PopeJohnPaulII.org.uk notes that a year earlier, the former Pope had survived an assassination attempt at St. Peters Square and had a tedious period of recovery.
So his visit to Britain was not trouble- free at all. But nearly three decades after, Pope Benedict’s own challenges may be even more complicated.
The half hour radio documentary above examines the reasons for the changing attitudes towards the papacy.
It was produced as part of my final project on the MA Journalism programme at the University of Westminster.
