Pope's Visit

"As Andrew Porter reports, Pope Benedict XVI will visit Britain next year, probably next autumn. Buckingham Palace will confirm the invitation, which means that His Holiness will meet the Queen - and, presumably, Prime Minister David Cameron. It’s the sort of meeting for which the Tory leader’s respectful charm eminently qualifies him.

So: great news. My first reaction: this will be a chance for the Church in England and Wales (I can’t speak for Scotland) to carry out at least some modest house-cleaning. Perhaps some good episcopal appointments will have been made by then, though without a change of Nuncio I wouldn’t bet on it.

One battle that must be won as soon as possible is over the liturgy of the papal Masses in England and Wales. Thank God, the papal Master of Ceremonies is Mgr Guido Marini, who unlike his tiresome predecessor does things properly; and they manage things very well at Westminster Cathedral, where both music and rubrics are in the hands of experts, not old trendies. That wretched Ikea altar has gone, too.

But I worry about some of the other places Pope Benedict XVI will visit. The American Church subjected him to some horrible travesties when he visited last; how can we stop that happening if he visits, say, Portsmouth? It would be awful if the whole Catholic world were to be given a glimpse of the cavortings of the south coast Magic Circle." (Damian Thompson)