[BiggieLittle]

Why be shocked? Britain is a post-Christian country.

[ConservativeMind]

Couldn’t part of this reaction be from the Vatican’s new policy of bringing in Anglican churches into the Catholic fold?

[wolfcreek]

Church of ENGLAND

nuff said.

[ClearCase_guy]

Britain hasn’t been a strong supporter of Catholicism for about ... uh ... 500 years.

[Doogle]

..how many people in the poll were Muslims?

[huldah1776]

I sometimes realize that the consequences of atheism are justified.

[6SJ7]

Lets see how the Brits would greet a visit from an Imam. I’m betting they would present The Full Dhimmi.

[wideawake]

At the bottom of the scale, the cost of the visit — an estimated 10 million pounds (about 15.4 million U.S. dollars) to British taxpayers — has generated repeated complaints

British Catholics have paid billions in taxes over the years to support the official state church of Great Britain.

$15.4mm is less than a thousandth of a percent of what Her Majesty's government owes them.

Not to mention the billions of pounds of real estate that the British government illegally seized from the Catholic Church.

[Logic n' Reason]

It is way way way way way past time to get the "pope" the heck out of Italy!

Let's say we get a pope from inner city Detroit, or the gay area of San Francisco (ok...anywhere in the city will do), or perhaps a pope from Australia, or maybe even a pope from Washington D.C.??? (oh....wait....he already thinks he IS the pope).

Anywhere....anybody but another one from somewhere in Europe.

Perhaps the UN General Assembly could take the place of the college of cardinals as far as electing a new pope goes!! Wouldn't that be fun??!!

[wideawake]

This is actually a good thing.

If the Pope were to visit a country lousy with Muslim fanatics, moral degenerates and aggressive atheists and get a warm welcome, it would mean he wasn't doing his job.

[mlizzy]

Great link for live coverage! Live chat is on the right hand side.

[agere_contra]

On the other hand - there are a LOT of people cheering the Pope in Scotland right this minute.

We shouldn’t focus on the looniest of the atheist left. They’re don’t represent Britain. They’re just the ones who get interviewed on the BBC.

[RansomOttawa]

The hostility that many British are voicing toward Pope Benedict XVI has shocked church officials in Rome as they prepare for the first formal state visit to Great Britain by a reigning pontiff.

Oh really. Between placing the entire kingdom under interdict until King John agreed to turn it over to "Peter and Paul," opposition to the Magna Carta, the Avignon Papacy, the Babylonian Captivity, and the Reformation, I can't understand how this could have slipped under the Vatican's radar for, oh, 800 years or so.

[CSM]

God has no place in a Socialist society. The people exepect the government to provide for their every need, thus crowding out God’s blessings.

[Non-Sequitur]

See? Now if you had just let Hank divorce Cathy back in 1525 then you wouldn’t be facing such hostility.