By Sam Greenhill
April 26, 2010
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1268780/Pope-Benedicts-British-visit-Vatican-fury-Britains-dark-forces.html
The Pope's visit to Britain has been plunged into jeopardy by 'dark forces' within the Foreign Office, Vatican officials declared yesterday.
They were furious at a 'seriously offensive' memo by Whitehall officials containing suggestions of what Benedict XVI might do during the trip - including opening an abortion clinic.
Other ideas involved getting the Pope to launch a range of 'Benedict' condoms, apologise for the Spanish Armada and bless a gay marriage.
The leader of the world's one billion Catholics could also, it was suggested, back a Miss Developing World beauty contest and sing a duet with the Queen
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| Greeting the faithful: Pope Benedict XVI during the Regina Coeli prayer in St Peter\'s square on Sunday. His visit to Britain has been jeopardised by a Foreign Office memo |
The memo also listed a number of individuals and organisations, ranging from influential to not influential, who might provoke a positive or negative response.
Papal aides have privately rejected a grovelling apology issued on behalf of David Miliband.
The Foreign Secretary is said to have been 'appalled' by the memo. The list was dreamed up by his officials during a 'brainstorming session' and circulated within Whitehall.
It also contained serious suggestions, such as meeting the unemployed, indicating it was not devised purely as a joke.
Other ideas floated included getting the Pope to spend the night in a council flat in Bradford and performing forward rolls with children to promote healthy living.
A senior Vatican source said: 'There are clearly dark forces within the British Government. While some are very eager for the visit to go well, there are others who are opposing it. This runs the risk of the trip being remembered for the memo and nothing else.'
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| Grovelling: Foreign Secretary David Miliband was forced to issue an apology to the Vatican |
The aide added: 'The Pope went to Turkey, a Muslim country, and had no problem at all. He visited Israel, no problem, and Jordan, an Arabic country, without any difficulty. However in Britain, which one would expect to see as a tolerant and democratic country, the climate is very different.'
Senior Papal aides suggested the Foreign Office had not taken strong enough action against those responsible for the memo, with no one losing their job.
One highly placed Vatican source said: 'This could have severe repercussions. It's even possible the trip could be cancelled as this matter is hugely offensive.'
In public, the Vatican has formally accepted the Foreign Office's unusually frank apology.
Mr Miliband dispatched the British ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell, to personally meet Vatican officials to deliver the apology.
Federico Lombardi, the Pope's spokesman, said: 'I'm aware the Foreign Office has made a statement on this matter. We are not saying anything else as there is no need to ruin the good relations between the British Government and the Vatican.'
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Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy, who is in charge of arrangements for the papal visit in September, grovelled further yesterday, saying: 'These memos are vile, they're insulting, they're an embarrassment, and on behalf of I think the whole of the United Kingdom I would want to apologise to His Holiness the Pope.'
But the diplomatic fallout continued with the Foreign Office forced to deny claims that the unnamed civil servant who produced the memo was a senior official.
It insisted the document was drawn up by a small group of 'three or four junior staff' in a team working on the papal visit.
A spokesman said: 'This was a blue-skies thinking session carried out on their own initiative. It resulted in a number of extremely offensive and ill-advised ideas.'
The spokesman refused to disclose the civil service grade of the team head, described as an Oxbridge graduate in his 20s.
The official was given a verbal and a written warning and transferred out of the team organising the Pope's trip. Other members of the team were giving a ticking off but remain involved in the visit.
The memo dated March 5 invited senior colleagues to discuss themes for the visit, attaching the now infamous list under the heading: 'The ideal visit would see...'.
The trip is already controversial, with the Pope expected to be confronted by demonstrators protesting against his stance on homosexuals, contraception and the child abuse scandal.
Amid the hail of condemnation yesterday, Cardinal Renato Martino, former head of the Vatican's Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said making a ' mockery' of the Pope offended millions of Catholics. Britain's former ambassador to Italy, Sir Ivor Roberts, added: 'It's very depressing and embarrassing to think diplomats would behave in such a way.'
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