A Benediction for Britain

IN the run-up to Pope Benedict XVI's state visit to Britain, it often seemed as if this country was polarised as never before. Questions over the role of the Roman Catholic Church in society were used by a militant secular minority to label Christianity in general, and indeed all religions, as a pernicious anachronism that should have no place in British public life.

The crowds who have flocked to see the Pope over the past few days, however, and to welcome his message that religion must hold a vital place in any civilised society, tell a different story.

Of course, it is right that questions are asked of the Catholic Church, notably over the matter of child sexual abuse. Indeed, the extent of this problem, and the Church's manifest failure to protect the vulnerable and punish the perpetrators, seems intimately bound up with the Church's organisation and practices.

That said, however, the present Pope's record on this issue is clear. As Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, he became known for dealing with abuse cases swiftly and effectively and, as Pope, he has taken responsibility for the Church's failings and unequivocally apologised for them, not least in his address at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday.

This is why, although the Catholic Church deserves at least some of the criticism it has faced, it is incumbent on Christians of all denominations to welcome and support the wider message of the Pope's visit. For, as the Archbishop of Canterbury has reminded us, this Pope has an established record as one of the Church's great theologians, a thinker in the tradition of John Henry Newman whom Benedict beatified yesterday.

Thus, when Benedict speaks of Christianity's role in the shaping of Western civilisation, he speaks with real authority and with a moral clarity which puts many present-day politicians to shame. As the Prime Minister was inspired to observe yesterday, however: "Faith is part of the fabric of our country. It always has been and it always will be." In the face of rising secularism, that is the true message of hope that Benedict has brought.