Britain Welcomes Pope Benedict XVI
September 17th, 2010 - 1:23 am ICT by Angela Kaye Mason
Sep 16 (Angela Kaye Mason) Britain was very excited to welcome Pope Benedict XVI today for his four day visit to the country. It was the first time in almost thirty years that a Pope has visited Britain since the 16th century, when King Henry VIII left the Roman Catholic Church to form an Anglican church so that he could divorce his wife.
This visit was expected to draw a smaller crowd than the organizers first anticipated, according to the head of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. While they had initially thought that there would be around 80,000 people to welcome the religious leader, the expected turnout had dwindled to 55,000 before the Pope actually arrived.
Less of an audience was also said to be expected at the open air mass that the Pope will oversee. It was not a lack of interest, however, that led the church to this conclusion, but that fact that trees the area would be blocking the views for the spectators.
Pope Benedict XVII was welcomed to Scotland by a Scottish military band which was located outside the Holyrose Palace as Queen Elizabeth II greeted him. Queen Elizabeth and Pope Benedict are both religious leader and heads of state in their countries.
This visit occurs in the middle of a horrendous scandals of sexual child abuse in the Catholic Church in both Europe and America. There have also been protests, wanting women to be ordained in the church, and arguing over the cost.
John Arnold, the Bishop of Westminster explained the controversy over those events. “There is been a fairly strong voice of criticism quite rightly so, we are a democratic nation, and people have spoken about why they do not want him to be here and they have given their reasons why,” Arnold stated.
Arnold did go on to exclaim that now that the Pope has arrived, he expects the occasion to be one of celebration and joy, with many huge events planned that will draw huge crowds. He expects the open air mass to be a big success, and stated, “I think Hyde Park will be wonderful, I am sure that Bellahouston Park in Glasgow will be excellent too, and then we have got the beatification itself, which will be a special moment for the Catholic Community in this country.”
- Papal Visit in the UK Expected to Draw Smaller Crowds Than Anticipated - Sep 15, 2010
- Pope condemns child abuse on British visit - Sep 16, 2010
- U.K. Catholic Heads Expect Smaller Crowds For Papal Visit - Sep 15, 2010
- Smaller Crowds Anticipated For Papal Visit To UK Say The Organizers - Sep 15, 2010
- Vatican warns pilgrims of ticket scams ahead of John Paul II beatification - Apr 11, 2011
- Pope travels to Britain for four-day visit - Sep 16, 2010
- Artists record song for pope's visit to Mexico - Mar 12, 2012
- Susan Boyle expected to perform for Pope during his visit to Britain - Jun 11, 2010
- Pope John Paul II To Be Beatified By Vatican On May 1 - Jan 15, 2011
- Pope John Paul II's beatification gathers 1.5 million people - May 02, 2011
- Susan Boyle Sings For Pope Benedict XVI, Breaks World Record - Sep 19, 2010
- Smaller crowds anticipated in UK for the papal visit - Sep 15, 2010
- Ordaining women priests is a 'crime against faith': Vatican - Jul 16, 2010
- John Paul II's beatification may draw a million pilgrims to Rome - Apr 28, 2011
- Hindus critical of Pope charging for Glasgow mass - Jul 28, 2010
Tags: air mass, anglican church, benedict xvi, catholic church in england, catholic church in england and wales, church in england, democratic nation, europe and america, john arnold, king henry viii, lack of interest, military band, pope benedict, pope benedict xvi, pope benedict xvii, queen elizabeth, queen elizabeth ii, religious leader, roman catholic church, sexual child abuse