Leaders of the Roman Catholic Church in Britain attempted to distance the Pope from the sex abuse scandal engulfing the institution, instead pledging that Benedict XVI will “give guidance on the great moral issues of our day” when he visits Britain in September.
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Although it has official status, the usual trappings of a state visit will be absent. There will be neither a procession in a gilded carriage up the Mall nor a banquet at Buckingham Palace, as the Queen will be in Scotland. The Pope will stay in Church accommodation as is normal when he visits other heads of state around the world.
A snub by the Queen? Perhaps not. Once in Scotland, the royal lady does not like interrupting her visits to return to England. The Queen will receive the pope at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in Edinburgh.
The Archbishop of Canterbury today offered an uncharacteristically terse welcome ahead of the visit.
Dr Rowan Williams, recently surprised by the Catholic announcement of a new Anglican Ordinariate in England to tempt dissatisfied Anglicans over to Rome, said: “The Pope's visit will be an opportunity to cement ties not only between the Holy See and the United Kingdom but also the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches in Scotland, England and Wales. I look forward particularly to welcoming Pope Benedict to Lambeth Palace on behalf of the Church of England.”
Hmmm. No comment.
H/T to MadPriest for the link to the article in the Times.
Also saw a headline today that the Pope was coming to "offer moral guidance" to the UK
ReplyDeleteNo shame whatsoever.
ReplyDeleteThe Pope's visit will be an opportunity to cement ties
ReplyDeleteIs he thinking of the old cement boots, perhaps? "He will sleep with the fishes" ...
Well, the Pope must have annoyed him a bit in recent times, don't you think?
Of course, when she's in Scotland, she's Presbyterian! ;-)
ReplyDelete... that is to say, when in Scotland, she worships with the Kirk...
ReplyDeleteWhen in Rome, er, Scotland....
ReplyDeleteCathy, LOL! The old cement boot trick.
ReplyDeleteSeán, Cardinal Brady, the RC Archbishop of Armagh, has his name in the news on account of his giving a free pass in the 1970's to a priest he knew to be a pedophile. It was only in 1994, after a documentary about the priest, Brendan Smyth, that the church admitted it had known about his paedophilia and moved him around Ireland, Britain and the US, where he continued to abuse children. Smyth died in jail 13 years ago, while serving 12 years for 74 sexual assaults on children.
ReplyDeleteBrady is now weaseling out of a December last promise to resign "if he thought any failure to act on his part had caused a child to suffer" on the grounds that "he had meant that he would resign if he had failed as a bishop". The incident in question precedes his consecration.
The bit in the Gospels about millstones around necks seems, like Matthew 23, to be absent from a hell of a lot of Bibles.
Lapin, also from your link:
ReplyDeleteCardinal Sean Brady said that he had attended two meetings in 1975 concerning Father Brendan Smyth, a notorious paedophile, where two of Smyth's victims signed an affidavit promising to discuss their claims only with a specified priest.