On the buses for the Pope's UK visit

I have just telephoned my parish priest to get a place on the bus. Pope Benedict XVI arrives in Scotland for the first leg of his four-day state visit to the United Kingdom on Sept. 16, and he will preside over a huge outdoor Mass in Glasgow. I’ve been granted a papal visit press pass by the Foreign Office, but as yet there is no guarantee I’ll get a special press pass to the papal Masses. Therefore, I’ve assured my place the old-fashioned way, as an ordinary Catholic pilgrim.

Information and misinformation about the papal visit has been swirling throughout the mainstream media, the Catholic media and the ever-hyper world of the Catholic blogosphere.  One of the principal controversies of the visit is that every Catholic who wishes to attend a papal Mass will have to pay £40 to get on the bus — and only buses will be allowed in.

But one thing is certain: the papal itinerary. The Holy Father will arrive in Edinburgh Thursday morning and be whisked off to the Palace of Holyrood House, the British monarch’s official residence in Scotland, to meet the Queen. There will be a state reception and then the Holy Father will have a private lunch with Cardinal Keith O’Brien, the rather jolly archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh. At 12:30 p.m. there will be a “popemobile journey” through central Edinburgh, where my husband, as advertised here long since, will kneel. Then Benedict will go by motorcade to Glasgow for the early evening Mass. Susan Boyle will sing for the crowd awaiting his arrival. Afterwards, the Holy Father will fly to London.

Benedict will have a very busy Friday in London. First he will celebrate Mass in the chapel of the papal nuncio, then visit St. Mary’s University College, meeting with members of religious teaching orders, then praying and singing with 3,500 schoolchildren and students. Next he will meet with religious leaders of other denominations and faiths to discuss faith in society. At four in the afternoon, he has an official meeting with Dr. Rowan William, archbishop of Canterbury, and shortly after five he will address civil leaders and former prime ministers Margaret Thatcher, Gordon Brown and Tony Blair, in Westminster Hall, where both St. Thomas More and St. Edmund Campion were tried and sentenced to death. At 6:15 p.m., the Holy Father will take part in an ecumenical celebration of evening prayer in Westminster Abbey.

Saturday will be a morning of official visits from British politicians before a 10 a.m. Mass in Westminster Cathedral. Then, thank goodness, the man will get a rest until 5 p.m. when he visits St. Peter’s Residence for Older People. Finally, there will be a prayer vigil on the eve of the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Hyde Park.  

Catholic pilgrims are being warned to expect all kinds of anti-papal protests in Hyde Park that night. An editorial in the Catholic Herald says they “should have nothing to fear and should seize the opportunity for good-natured discussion, for it is becoming clear that the leaders of the Protest the Pope coalition are determined to exercise restraint.” However, it is likely there will be protests from Muslim extremists and other free-floating anti-papal protesters, so expect some depressing images on your TVs Saturday night.    

But whatever happens, Sunday will be marvellous. The Holy Father will arrive in Birmingham by helicopter and celebrate a 10 a.m. Mass with the beatification at Cofton Park. In the afternoon, he will visit Newman’s old home, the Oratory of St. Philip Neri. Then lunch with the bishops of England, Scotland and Wales before the trip home to Rome.

After months of relentless negative press coverage, it is hard to get a sense of what the papal visit will really be like. Here in Scotland, Catholics are being warned this is our only chance to see the Pope in Scotland, so we had better hurry up and apply for our places on the bus. Liturgical traditionalists are delighted that Scottish classical composer James McMillan’s new Mass settings will be sung at both the Glasgow and the Cofton Park Masses.

Linguists will no doubt enjoy the presence of not only English and Latin at the Glasgow Mass but Gaelic. Pop fans will delight in Boyle, and I personally will enjoy the efforts of the Strathclyde Police Pipe band.

There is an official missalette for the papal visit called Magnificat. It contains all the liturgies, prayers and events for the visit. I scooped mine up as soon as it appeared. It is a lovely little book and, to be frank, is the most positive piece of writing I have seen so far about the visit. I hope this booklet, and not the shrieks and moans of the press, becomes the most influential guide to preparing for the historic event.