Any visit of the Pope to Britain acquires a salience because in the early 16th century, Britain, or, more correctly, England, under Henry VIII broke most decisively with Rome. Prima facie that decision followed the king’s decision to annul his first marriage in order to wed Anne Boleyn. But, in fact, it began the process of England’s emergence as a powerful nation state under an absolutist monarchy committed to promoting trade. Since that time, the relationship between Britain and papacy has never been easy and the memory of the persecution the Roman Catholics suffered in England in the 16th and 17th centuries continues to linger. Through the years, the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England have drifted apart. This is in sharp contrast to the ecumenical optimism that prevailed when Pope John Paul II visited Britain in 1982. It seemed possible then that the two churches would come together. Now there is no such hope. Over and above the long-term contradictions between the two sects of Christianity is the shadow of the abuse scandal that has fallen over the papal visit. Not everyone in Britain is happy about the State visit and the money spent on it. Voices have been raised against the Vatican doctrines on gay rights, condom use and abortion.

Pope Benedict XVI tried to disarm critics by admitting that the Roman Catholic Church, by not dealing “swiftly and decisively” with clerical abuse, had erred. But this was somewhat offset by his description of paedophilia as an illness. The Pope normally refers to sexual abuse as a sin or a crime. By describing it as an illness he seemed to empty the act of any agency. More generally, his message to Britain to reclaim its Christian roots will be resented as a challenge to the secular values that are so embedded in British public life. The Britons, like people in other parts of the developed world, have successfully segregated their private religious beliefs from decisions affecting public life. This is one reason for the decline in religious sectarianism and of anti-Catholicism in Britain. That same ambience has also nurtured, before it was rudely disturbed by radical Islam, the growth of a pluralist society in Britain. The papal visit and the Pope’s various pronouncements have suddenly turned the limelight on matters religious. The Pope’s visit is historic because of historical reasons but it has been rightly viewed in Britain with mixed feelings.