E Y E W E A R, THE BLOG - FREEDOM MEANS BEING UNAFRAID TO WRITE WHAT YOU THINK

The British media have been reporting with alarm that The Pope's visit to Britain in the autumn will cost twelve million pounds, up from a supposed eight million that had been proposed at some stage.  The tone of these reports is secular and critical, and a thinly veiled anti-religious attitude underpins them.  Firstly, let us consider this - Catholicism is a major religion, and The Pope - despite the real and imagined faults of his Faith - is its leader.  He is also a political head, of The Vatican.  As such, his visit should be accorded the full seriousness and security that any world leader would expect.  Security needs to be tight because Britain is now the leading world exporter of dogmatic atheism, and here is a genuine hatred of this man in ever-widening circles.  Now, I can understand why some people feel hatred for what he stands for - he is conservative, holds difficult theological views, and he has been linked to terrible accusations.  But ...