Pope visit to Britain is significant event, say organizers

Jul 5, 2010, 15:25 GMT

London/Rome - The state visit by Pope Benedict XVI to Britain in September was hailed by organizers Monday as the most significant event since Henry VIII split from the Church of Rome in the middle of the 16th century.

State and church organizers said the importance of the historic visit from September 16 to 19 for both state and church relations could not be overestimated.

The first-ever state visit to Britain by a leader of the Roman Catholic Church since the break with Rome 480 years ago would mark the 'crowning arch' in relations, said Chris Patten, the high-profile Conservative politician appointed by the government to oversee the state aspect of the papal visit.

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, the head of Britain's 5 million Roman Catholics, said the visit would hold 'iconic moments,' showing the Pope side by side with Queen Elizabeth II and seeing Catholic and Church of England (CoE) leaders united in prayer in Westminster Abbey.

The pope will also speak to civic leaders in Westminster Hall, the venue where Catholic martyr Thomas Moore was sentenced to death for treason in 1535 for opposing the split from Rome.

However, the four-day papal is likely to be overshadowed by the ongoing child abuse scandal that has afflicted the Roman Catholic Church in a number of European countries and in the US, as well as by a debate about the costs of the trip in these times of austerity.

Patten said the estimated costs to the state had risen from 8 million pounds (12 million dollars) to 12 million pounds, while the church would bear the expense for the pastoral side of the visit.

Nichols said 5 million pounds had been raised in appeals so far, but more was needed.

Asked whether he expected Pope Benedict to address the abuse scandal, Archbishop Nichols said that was a decision for the pontiff to make.

'His speeches are not written here,' said Nichols, adding that the child abuse scandal had been 'rightly condemned' and the church had learnt lessons from it.

However, it would be wrong to pressurize the pope into a public meeting with victims of child abuse 'just to get a good photograph,' said Nichols.

The 83-year-old German pontiff is due to arrive in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, on September 16, where he will be received as head of state by the queen.

He will celebrate a mass in a public park in Glasgow, Scotland's second city, before travelling to London on September 17. The pope will meet with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury and head of the Anglican Church, before the two church leaders hold joint prayers in Westminster Abbey.

A mass will be held at Westminster Cathedral, the main Roman Catholic Church in London on September 18 before the pontiff travels to Birmingham to beatify Cardinal Henry Newman, a leading 19th century intellectual and Catholic convert.