Sunday, 19 September 2010 Thank you, Holy Father! Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the UK, and the Hyde Park prayer vigil Excerpt Well, Pope Benedict XVI has now left our shores, after a hugely successful Papal visit. The coalition of the pained, the angry and the unenlightened - often unwittingly in league with the forces of the damned - was blown away by the arrival of the Successor of St Peter. The disciples of Christ came out in force to support the Holy Father, and to show modern Britain that God is love and that He lives in our hearts. The gates of Hell did not prevail, in fact the powers of darkness fled in fear of the truth - their lies and deceits squealing before them! Today saw Pope Benedict XVI beatify John Henry Newman - one of the greatest of English churchmen. What joy it was to see the Pope arrive in Cofton Park this morning, the sunshine travelling with him, as if nature itself was singing to the glory of God! And, although the bishops conference seemed to have made a complete hash of organising tickets for the event, there were plenty of men, women and children there to greet the Holy Father, and to celebrate Bl John Henry being raised to the altar. Last night saw the Pope lead around 80,000 worshippers in a special prayer vigil in Hyde Park. The police also estimate that about 300,000 well-wishers lined the Holy Father's route to the Park, whilst those protesting against the Papal visit numbered around 5,000. These figures speak volumes. I also noticed that many of the protesters had finally realised that they had nothing to protest about, as the false impressions of the Pope or the Catholic Church were exposed by the truth. I felt immensely sorry for those alleged victims of child abuse, though, especially seeing that they were being cynically used by lobbyists - usually gays, protestants, atheists or muslims - who care very little about their plight, and whose oversized egos seem to rule their reason. The world, after the Pope's words at Mass in Westminster Cathedral yesterday, can now be in no doubt that this Papacy is determined to remove the filth from the priesthood, and seeks to bring some peace to those souls that have been so horrendously damaged by those priests who were (or are) wolves in sheep's clothing. ~~~~ The Pope has routed his enemies and brought joy to the faithful - The last four days began in anxiety, but ended in euphoria Excerpt How does one sum up the papal visit in a few words? A survey of the four days, event by event four days which began (so far as I am concerned) in anxiety which quickly turned to relief and ended finally in euphoria simply cant be done in less than the length of a short book, and I have only 400 or 500 words for this post, though in the print edition of the paper which appears later this week I shall be given more than double the space for an extended version of it, in which I shall look also at the very interesting coverage of the visit by the secular media. That aspect of the visit will have to be briefly summarised here by the words of Dr George Carey in the News of the World: he came, he saw, he conquered. The richness, volume and sheer variety of the teaching the Pope gave us, and its perfect suitability for each of its many very different audiences, ranging from his intellectually hugely impressive address to the leaders of civil society in Westminster Hall to his call to that enthusiastic audience of schoolchildren to aim at becoming saints, was astonishing. And perhaps the first thing that needs to be said is that this was above all a personal triumph for the Holy Father himself. What came over consistently was the huge warmth, the seemingly inexhaustible loving kindness of the Popes gentle but nevertheless powerful personality. CLICK HERE FOR HYDE PARK SERVICE AUDIO -- SCROLL DOWN RIGHT= VERY SPECIAL LOOK @ THE INCREDIBLE PICS - GETTY CAN'T BE POSTED HERE God bless & protect you, dear Pope Benedict. |