As the visit approaches, it is becoming increasingly difficult to keep track of the flood of articles about it, choose the most important and most interesting, and have some semblance of 'organized' posting. So I will be posting as I come across must-post and postable articles. The first is this commentary by Catherine Pepinster, who is the editor of the ultra-liberal Tablet newspaper. While she and her publication are no great fans at all of Benedict XVI and 'his Church', she has been, in her way, plugging for this visit. In this article, she makes important points on the rationale for the British invitation to the Pope and why he is being accorded a state visit.
We can do business with Benedict
The Pope was invited on a state visit because the Labour government
discovered that the Holy See is a major agent of development
by Catherine Pepinster
Monday 13 September 2010
Bit by bit, week by week, the focus of attacks on the forthcoming papal visit to Britain have sharpened so that now they boil down to one thing: why should this be a state visit?
The vitriol first expressed by critics of Roman Catholicism was so vicious that one sensed that it backfired: people in this country who always like fair play started to feel that the condemnation of the most fervent opponents of Pope Benedict XVI and of his Church were getting too personal.
So there's been a noticeable change in gear: now the critique is you Catholics should be able to see your Pope, but don't bother the rest of it with us. And it's worked: a poll for the Theos think tank this week shows that people don't approve of this being a state visit, with 76 per cent objecting to taxpayers part-funding it, while a survey for my own publication,
The Tablet, by Ipsos MORI, shows that most people neither support nor oppose the actual visit. So it's the trip's status that sticks in the craw.
But people need to get a few things straight. Firstly, this isn't quite a state visit. This is an official visit, with the status of a state visit. So the Pope won't be the guest of honour at a vast banquet at Buckingham Palace, nor will there be a ride down the Mall with the Queen with all the attendant pomp, nor will the pope stay at Buckingham Palace and be waited on there by flunkeys.
That wasn't desired by the Pope, nor was it entirely possible, given the Queen is currently resident at Balmoral for her annual holiday there, and the absence of these events will make the visit vastly cheaper for the taxpayer.
[And even if it had been possible, it is unthinkable that the Pope would have stayed at Buckingham Palace. The policy since Pope Paul Vi became the first modern Pope to travel outside Italy is that the Pope stays in the residence of the Apostolic Nuncio to the host country, or the bishop's residence if the city where he must spend the night is not the capital city.]
Secondly, the protests about the papal state visit are much noisier than any protests about visits by other heads of state that some people might object to coming here.
Where were the loud cries of disgust at the appearance of heads of state from China, Saudi Arabia etc, despite their track records on human rights issues? Does the Pope really deserve to be singled out in this way?
And that reference I just made to heads of state: yes, the Pope is one too, and that's why he gets a state visit (just not too fancy a one). Critics might object to him being accorded this status, but the Holy See which forms the central government of the Church is recognised in international law as a sovereign entity, and maintains relations with 178 states, including the United Kingdom.
You might not like it, but that is what the reality is. And
the Government of this country has worked out that it can do business with the Holy See. That's why Benedict XVI is heading this way.
It would be more accurate to say that it was the previous administration that worked this out. While Labour might have had difficulties at the domestic level with the Catholic Church – one thinks of clashes over faith schools and over same-sex couples adopting children – things were different at the global level.
It was rather like that revelation of Mrs Thatcher's when she encountered Gorbachev: this is someone we can do business with. A series of Labour Cabinet ministers – Gordon Brown, first as chancellor and later as Prime Minister, David Miliband as Environment Secretary, Douglas Alexander and Baroness Vadera from International Development, as well as Tony Blair on several occasions during his tenure at Number 10, all flew to Rome to do business with the Vatican.
That business has focused on the most pressing of issues for the people of this planet and the planet itself: poverty in the developing world, eradication of diseases such as malaria, climate change, sustainability, the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals. The Coalition Government has recognised the same opportunities there are to do business with the Holy See on these issues.
There are several reasons why:
- The Catholic Church has a vast network of people on the ground, working in developing nations. Its global social services organisation, Caritas, is second only in size to the International Red Cross.
- The Church acts as a useful influence on other nations' views on such vital issues, and
- It's also a superb conduit of information from around the globe; its diplomats are legendary.
That is why all those British politicians went to Rome, and why the Pope is coming here, with the taxpayer part-funding the visit. It's all about pragmatism.
No doubt all the media attention will be on the Pope by the media, and all the pomp and ceremony of the visit, and the possibilities of faux-pas, and what I hope will also happen – meetings with abuse victims and a chance to listen to what ordinary Catholics have to say about their Church.
But don't ignore the entourage that is coming too. For they're the ones who will do business with their hosts. They're the
seguito, the followers, and in their midst are people who run Vatican departments.
The talks they will hold with civil servants and ministers, including a major dinner at Lancaster House, will be a chance to discuss some of the most crucial matters affecting the world today, with people who could well make a difference.
The Pope will address not just Catholics but the whole nation during his visit. If they give him a chance, he might just have an impact on their lives. But this visit could change the lives of people in Africa and Asia too.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 13/09/2010 20:48]