The Vatican isn’t worried about the possibility of protests during Benedict XVI’s visit to the United Kingdom next week, says a spokesman.Jesuit Father Federico Lombardi met today with journalists who asked about hostility toward the Sept. 16-19 Papal visit. A campaign called Protest the Pope is organizing a march through London on Sept. 18, which will voice concerns over the Church’s handling of the sexual abuse crisis, among other issues.
Father Lombardi said that with regard to the protests, “there is nothing on our part over which we must be worried,” and that such events are part “of the normal climate of a pluralist society, such as the British, in which there is great liberty of expression, and in which Catholics are a minority.” Out of 51 million inhabitants in the United Kingdom, 5 million are Catholic. Of these, it is estimated that around one million attend Mass every Sunday.Father Lombardi also referred to a recently published report in the English Catholic newspaper The Tablet, which shows that only a minority is hostile to the Pope.
“The echo of these protests, moreover, seems higher than the reality of the effective climate of the population,” Father Lombardi explained. “Instead, the results of some surveys also show that interest in the Pope’s visit is not little, whereas hostility is represented by a minority.”
The trip to the United Kingdom will be the 17th international journey for Benedict XVI’s, and the spokesman said “the expectation is notable.”
VATICAN CITY, SEPT. 10, 2010 (Zenit.org)