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[Note: this is a very conservative British paper]
Gordon Brown suffered an apparent public embarrassment after inviting Pope Benedict XVI to visit Britain only to be rebuffed hours later.
…“He was very welcoming of the invitation,” Mr Brown said.
However, hours later, a Vatican spokesman was reported as ruling out any visit by the Pontiff to Britain.
“For the moment, no travel by Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom is scheduled or under consideration,” Federico Lombardi, a spokesman, was quoted as saying. …
Commentary:
Gordon Brown tries to spin the Pope - Vatican response: ‘Spin on this!’
When it comes to a factual contradiction between the Pope’s official spokesman and the snake-oil salesman with a track record of mega-porkies (“No return to boom and bust”), even the staunchest Ulster Orangeman would probably feel he must reluctantly give credence to Rome. But the Number 10 spin machine remains undaunted, insisting it knows the Pope’s mind better than he himself does. “There isn’t a date in the diary - we just made the invitation a few hours ago. But they are definitely looking at it.” Oh, yeah?
Clearly, the attitude in the Downing Street bunker is, when you have spun everything else, why not have a try at spinning the Pope?
What I find strange is if the Brown govt is “the most anti-Christian government in British history” as The Telegraph commentary alleges, why would the Holy See give him the honor of being the first serving Prime Minister to have an article published in the Vatican newspaper ahead of his visit with the pope, a fact confirmed by the Vatican Secretary of State?
Gordon Brown suffered an apparent public embarrassment after inviting Pope Benedict XVI to visit Britain only to be rebuffed hours later.
…“He was very welcoming of the invitation,” Mr Brown said.
However, hours later, a Vatican spokesman was reported as ruling out any visit by the Pontiff to Britain.
“For the moment, no travel by Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom is scheduled or under consideration,” Federico Lombardi, a spokesman, was quoted as saying. …
Commentary:
Gordon Brown tries to spin the Pope - Vatican response: ‘Spin on this!’
When it comes to a factual contradiction between the Pope’s official spokesman and the snake-oil salesman with a track record of mega-porkies (“No return to boom and bust”), even the staunchest Ulster Orangeman would probably feel he must reluctantly give credence to Rome. But the Number 10 spin machine remains undaunted, insisting it knows the Pope’s mind better than he himself does. “There isn’t a date in the diary - we just made the invitation a few hours ago. But they are definitely looking at it.” Oh, yeah?
Clearly, the attitude in the Downing Street bunker is, when you have spun everything else, why not have a try at spinning the Pope?
What I find strange is if the Brown govt is “the most anti-Christian government in British history” as The Telegraph commentary alleges, why would the Holy See give him the honor of being the first serving Prime Minister to have an article published in the Vatican newspaper ahead of his visit with the pope, a fact confirmed by the Vatican Secretary of State?