SENIOR Vatican spokesman Fr Federico Lombardi yesterday dismissed British media speculation that Pope Benedict’s September official visit to the UK might be cancelled because of last weekend’s embarrassing diplomatic incident involving a leaked Foreign Office memo.
He told The Irish Timesthat such reports were "completely without foundation". "I don't know how people imagined this. No one [in the Vatican] has ever had even a minimum of doubt about the visit", Fr Lombardi added.
Asked whether there was likely to be any Vatican response to a memo that suggested, among other things, that during his visit to the UK the pope might open an abortion clinic, bless a gay marriage and launch a “Benedict” brand of condoms, the papal spokesman said: “For us the issue is closed, and as far as we are concerned there was never any problem about the visit.
“There was no polemic. We had an immediate statement from the Foreign Office, whilst the British ambassador to the Holy See also presented his formal apology almost immediately. So, as far as the Vatican was concerned, we took on board immediately both these apologies and explanations and we have nothing to add.”
Whilst it is crystal clear that the Holy See is very keen to play down any negative fallout from the offensive Foreign Office memo, this latest hiccup only heightens concern about the “climate” that will greet Pope Benedict next September.
In the last month, a number of groups have proposed both a “Protest The Pope” campaign and also that the pope should be arrested on British soil for crimes against humanity, linked to the church’s sex abuse crisis.
Vatican sources suggest that, despite the papal spokesman’s firm confirmation of the visit, close advisers to Benedict may be worried that an already “delicate” trip could become simply too onerous for the 83-year-old pope.