Pope And Circumstance

Its not surprising that the BBC is reporting that Catholic Church leaders in the UK are arguing that it is right that British Taxpayers Should Pay For The Pope's Visit, despite the fact that only a small minority of people in Britain beleive in any kind of God, and an even smaller number than that are Catholics! After all, every Church exists by leaching off ordinary people.

At a time when we are being told that "There Is No Alterantive" but to reduce the Public Sector Deficit, £12m is to be taken out of Public Funds to cover the Pope's visit. An online poll found 80% of people had no interest in the visit, and even a majority of Catholics have little interest, as the take-up over tickets for his meeting in Birmingham demonstrates. 77% of people said that taxpayers should not pay any part of the cost. This is a Government, which also says it wants to have local referendums to veto Council spending. To be consistent, it should listen to the majority of people who oppose any money coming out of Public Funds for this visit.

One argument put forward was that it is a State visit, and that the Pope was invited by the Queen as Head of State. No one is saying he shouldn't come, though I think he should be made as unwelcome here as any other reactionary, but if the Queen has invited him, let her share the cost of his visit with him, not us. Its a bit like your neighbour inviting round some one, holding a raucous party that keeps you awake all night, and takes up all the parking places in the street, and then sending you the bill!

But, the argument about State visit is in any case a crock. He isn't coming here as the Head of State of the Vatican, but as the Pope, as the head of a religious movement, that is as reactionary as every other religious movement. The Vatican only exists as a State, because the Catholic Church did a deal with Mussolini, to provide him with backing in return for that concession. That in itself shows just what the morality of this organisation is. It is the same organisation that did deals with Hitler to feather its own nest. It is the same organisation that has engaged in, and then tried to cover up some of the worst cases of child abuse in history. If it were any other organisation its leaders would have been in gaol, and some would have faced War Crimes trials.