Video: Yorkshire awaits Pope's historic visit

Prime Minister David Cameron has offered "a very warm welcome" to Pope Benedict XVI, describing his visit to Britain this week as a "great honour".

The first state visit by a Pope to Britain, starting tomorrow, will take in trips to Edinburgh, Glasgow, London and Birmingham, and includes a meeting with Mr Cameron on Saturday.

The meeting comes a day after the funeral of Mr Cameron's father Ian, who died last week, and the leader of Catholics in England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, said the Pope would be praying for the Prime Minister and his family in their time of grief.

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The Most Rev Nichols said the death of Mr Cameron's father would be "uppermost" in the mind of the Pope when he meets the Prime Minister.

"He will be praying for the senior Mr Cameron who has died and, of course, for the Prime Minister and his family at their time of grief," Archbishop Nichols told a news conference.

"That is what a priest does, and that will be first, I am sure, on the agenda of the Pope when he meets the Prime Minister."

In a video message on the 10 Downing Street website, Mr Cameron described the papal visit as "a great honour for our country".

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Amid continuing controversy over child abuse cases within the Roman Catholic Church, the PM acknowledged many Britons may disagree with the Pope on particular issues but he insisted that all should recognise that Benedict's message raises important issues about society.

Mr Cameron said: "I would like to offer Pope Benedict a very warm welcome to Britain for this incredibly important and historic visit."

He added: "These will be a very special four days not just for our six million Catholics but for many people of faith right across Britain, and millions more watching around the world.

"It is a unique opportunity to celebrate the enormous contribution that all our faith communities make to our society and to celebrate their role in helping to build a bigger and stronger society.

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"That society should be about more than materialism. It should be about shared values and about working for the common good."

Mr Cameron added: "Of course, not everyone will agree with everything the Pope says, but that shouldn't prevent us from acknowledging that the Pope's broader message can help challenge us to ask searching questions about our society and how we treat ourselves and each other.

The welcome came after Archbishop Nichols insisted he was confident that Catholics would show "profound loyalty".

"The Catholic tradition in this country is one of actually very profound loyalty to the person of the Holy Father," he said.

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"While many would want to suggest differences of trends and opinion, this way or not, I am quite sure, and it is my experience in parish after parish, standing at the back of Westminster Cathedral day after day, that Catholics are looking forward to this visit very much indeed.

"The Catholic people of this country know what it is to show their affection and support for Pope Benedict."

Lord Patten, the Prime Minister's representative for Pope Benedict's visit to Britain, said the "eyes of the world" would be on Britain during the visit.

The Pope's four-day visit will take place amid tight security. Two of the celebrated Popemobiles have been shipped to the country for use in Edinburgh, London and Birmingham.

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The vehicles have the registration plate SCV 1, or SCV, standing for Stato della Citta del Vaticano, the Italian name for Vatican City.

The Vatican abandoned the use of an open-topped vehicle and introduced a bullet-proof enclosure after an assassination attempt on Pope John Paul II.