Secular media coverage of Pope Benedict's weekend trip to Spain indicates that the Holy Father will be facing a "big challenge" in a "once-staunchly Catholic nation that has become one of Europe's most liberal." One observer notes that the Pope will be facing "the least Catholic Spain in history". Reminiscent of coverage preceding the Holy Father's September trip to the U.K., recent media coverage has highlighted the abuse scandal, papal protestors (one headline reads "Thousands protest pope's upcoming visit"), and the cost of the papal trip. [Heard it already.]
Also reminiscent of the Holy Father's U.K. trip are unsettling reports that a man walking his dog found confidential security documents relating to the papal visit to Spain. The documents were reportedly lost a month ago and plans have since been "adjusted". Confidential security documents were likewise found "lying around" in a pub before the Holy Father's trip to the United Kingdom (previous story here). Nevertheless, we are assured that security for the papal visit is "intense".
And, once again, we hear of coordinated efforts against the Holy Father via Facebook - this time a homosexual 'kiss in' is planned, last time there was an 'egg the Pope' effort.
However, we do seem to be missing reports of Islamic publications calling on Muslims to attend the Holy Father's events to preach Islam and tell the Pope "in no uncertain terms what Muslims think of his evil slanders" against Muhammad, so maybe there has been some progress. One can hope...
[11/5]
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