Discord Over the Papal Visit
DWBS
An informative article on the Papal visit has appeared in The Spectator for June 5 from the pen of Damian Thompson, who, among other things, is a director of The Catholic Herald. It seems that the arrangements for the Papal visit have been incompetently hijacked by a “Blairite” faction in the Roman Church. The cost to the Church has escalated from an original estimate of £6.75 million to a present estimate of nearly £14 million, but many of the bookings have still to be made. In particular, the advertised mass at Coventry Airport at which Cardinal Newman is to be beatified is in jeopardy.
The Blairite faction includes Cardinal Murphy O’Connor; Monsignor Andrew Summersgill, who is the principal organiser; Magi Cleaver, who is a friend of Cherie Blair and is stridently pro-abortion; and Francis Campbell, who apparently is the first Roman Catholic ambassador to the Vatican. The Papal itinerary steers clear of hospices, crisis pregnancy centres and adoption agencies where the rift between the Pope and the Blairites might become evident. If the visit does take place, it should be remembered that behind the smiling unity lies the most bitter discord.