Pope aide pulls out of trip after UK 'Third World' jibe

[GeoCyclist]

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11317441

While the criticism of the BBC and British media in general may be justified for their anti catholic, anti papal visit scribblings, the vatican yet again scores another own goal - sometimes I cant help thinking the vatican and those around the pope don’t need any help from anyone in making themselves look bad and misunderstood

 

[CGDouglas]

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11317441

While the criticism of the BBC and British media in general may be justified for their anti catholic, anti papal visit scribblings, the vatican yet again scores another own goal - sometimes I cant help thinking the vatican and those around the pope don’t need any help from anyone in making themselves look bad and misunderstood

Well he is pretty much right, bad timing I guess?

God Bless,

Christopher.

 

[LargeTrout]

That was a pretty silly thing to do considering the current anti-Catholic sentiment in the UK these days.

 

[barb_finnegan]

Frankly, I’m getting rather tired of seeing shepherds (and yes, Cardinals ARE SHEPHERDS) ‘wimping out’ every time they say something that might ‘offend’ someone!

Good grief, Your Eminence, MAN UP, for God’s sake!

Would St. John Fisher have ‘wimped out’ when he stood his ground against King Henry VIII?NO, HE DIDN’T! And he was a Cardinal too!

That’s why Your Eminences wear ‘RED’-it means that you should be willing to give your life’s blood for Christ and His Church, just like St. John Fisher!

Sheesh…!

 

[CathFaith1]

I saw Damian Thompson commented.

The Cardinal will be missed by his friends in the Bishops’ Conference, who applauded his attempts to revive the corpse of ecumenical dialogue. He won’t be missed by Anglicans seeking to convert to Rome, who (successfully) petitioned the Vatican to prevent Kasper from sabotaging the Ordinariate scheme. Will Pope Benedict regret his absence? Now there’s an interesting question.

The official reason for Kasper’s change of plan is ill health. But Vatican sources think he’s being punished for his undiplomatic remarks. If so, how ironic that the Cardinal should get into trouble for the first sensible thing he’s said in years.

Damian Thompson

 

[jmcrae]

bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11317441

While the criticism of the BBC and British media in general may be justified for their anti catholic, anti papal visit scribblings, the vatican yet again scores another own goal - sometimes I cant help thinking the vatican and those around the pope don’t need any help from anyone in making themselves look bad and misunderstood

He was only saying out loud what everyone is thinking. I’ve thought the same thing, when I’ve gone to Britain. Their idea of “central heating” is to put an electric heater in the middle of the room. Try getting anything more than a dribble of water out of a British shower. You’d get cleaner if you were standing out in the rain. There are only three channels on TV, and all of them are government-owned. And you have to put coins in a box to make the electricity come on.

He’s right - it’s just like a third-world country, there.

 

[paperwight66]

He was only saying out loud what everyone is thinking. I’ve thought the same thing, when I’ve gone to Britain. Their idea of “central heating” is to put an electric heater in the middle of the room. Try getting anything more than a dribble of water out of a British shower. You’d get cleaner if you were standing out in the rain. There are only three channels on TV, and all of them are government-owned. And you have to put coins in a box to make the electricity come on.

He’s right - it’s just like a third-world country, there.

Oh, don’t talk such rubbish.

 

[jmcrae]

Oh, don’t talk such rubbish.

I’m not. That’s how things were at the home of my in-laws in Scotland, and my brother-in-law, and my relatives from my step-father’s branch of the family. It’s not a criticism; it’s just the reality of the place.

 

[OrdinaryMelkite]

I tend to agree with what he said—but sometimes you have to be “diplomatic” and “charitable” when you are in the midst of a trip of this importance to a country known for its intolerance of Catholicism.

 

[GeoCyclist]

He was only saying out loud what everyone is thinking. I’ve thought the same thing, when I’ve gone to Britain. Their idea of “central heating” is to put an electric heater in the middle of the room. Try getting anything more than a dribble of water out of a British shower. You’d get cleaner if you were standing out in the rain. There are only three channels on TV, and all of them are government-owned. And you have to put coins in a box to make the electricity come on.

He’s right - it’s just like a third-world country, there.

He went on to define what he meant by saying it’s a third world country by expanding he was refering to britians multiculturism! So if there;s a lot of black and asian people there, it’s a third world country! He should have just kept his mouth shut.
Now, to your points, there are more than 3 terrestrial channels - channel 4, channel 5 and ITV are tv channels and not owned by the government - but for your information BBC1 BBC2 BBC3 and BBC 4 are NOT owned by the government either! Your relatives obviously dont have SKY or Cable, otherwise they would have several hundred channels a their disposal, including EWTN!
Your particular relatives obviously have poor water pressure - powershowers work a dream and get you so very very clean!
They obviously dont have central heating either - as most of the countrys central heating is supplied from combi-boilers which work a dream for a house with 8-12 rooms.
Don’t make the mistake of thinking most of the people in the UK live like your relatives.

 

[GeoCyclist]

I’m not. That’s how things were at the home of my in-laws in Scotland, and my brother-in-law, and my relatives from my step-father’s branch of the family. It’s not a criticism; it’s just the reality of the place.

It’s the reality of your relatives. It’s not the relaity of the UK, consisting as it does of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

 

[Dale_M]

It’s the reality of your relatives. It’s not the relaity of the UK, consisting as it does of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Yep, I remember reading in a Barbara Vine (aka Ruth Rendell) novel about the electric heater situation which Jmcrae described, but it involved an older house which had not been occupied since about 1970. According to the BBC, central heating became standard in the UK during the late 70s/early 80s.

Only a small fraction of UK homes are without central heating today. In the last comprehensive survey, in 2004, it was 7% of households, and that has probably dropped further since.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8283796.stm

I’ll admit I have never been to the UK, but I think this talk of it being a third world nation is hogwash. Its fortunes may be less than they were 75 years ago, but the UK is still a leading country in the world to which a large number of people look for justice and a better life.

Cardinal Kasper’s astonishingly undiplomatic statement was without merit.

 

[Kaninchen]

According to the ‘Poverty Site’ about 90% of the poorest housholds in the UK have central heating (they’re cross about the remaining 10%).