Fra Catholic Herald har jeg tatt med noen reaksjoner etter pave Benedikts besøk – det legges stor vekt på pavens tale om religionens plass i samfunnet i Westminster Hall:
There were two high points – from the perspective of the state visit the event in Westminster Hall was memorable for the depth of the Holy Father’s insight and for the warmth of the reception from the British parliamentarians present.
This was a great compliment to Britain in its ability to welcome a religious voice on to the public stage. The Prime Minister’s words at the airport confirmed how his words had struck a chord.
Secondly from the pastoral point of view the beatification of Cardinal Newman has brought to the attention of many people a great Englishman whose memory will now be celebrated in new ways.
Finally the sheer volume of people on the streets both in Edinburgh and London meant that more than half a million people saw the Pope in person and this demonstration of public support has deeply touched the Holy Father and the entire delegation from the Holy See.
En engelsk katolsk biskop sa.
“A television interviewer said to me on Sunday ‘You look absolutely radiant’. And that’s been my reaction to four incredible days, which really couldn’t have gone better.”
Om hvorfor tonen i media snudde nokså tidlig (i pavens favør):
I suspect the Pope’s gentle manner and even his very evident physical frailty really did play a part in a reversal of rhetoric by what one might describe as the anti-clerical press. When someone is conjured up as a monster (or “a leering old villain in a frock”, as Richard Dawkins put it) and emerges as a modest scholarly figure visibly ill at ease with the political bombast of a state visit, the opinion-formers sense that their readers will want a more gentle tone.