I was overjoyed to hear that the holy father is to visit Britain in 2010. Why? Well three reasons spring to mind:
1) It is undoubtedly a good thing for all Catholic Christians, regardless of denomination, who can recognise the Pope as the leader of Western Christendom. It is thus a great honour and the cause of great celebration.
2) It is going to raise the profile of the church in the media and thus the mind of the poplulace at large. Again this can only be a wonderful thing.l
3) There is going to be an awful lot of fantastic ‘tat’ on sale for those with a love of garish devotional items!
