GB: Welcome Pope's visit, but Church has to deal with its problems

I've met some of the people who have rightly complained about the abuse that they were subject to when young, and it never leaves them. It is something that is with them always. And no matter what you can try to do to help, there is always this problem that they have to face up to every day, that they were abused, cruelly abused, by people in whom they placed their faith and trust. So the church has got to deal with these problems, and it's got to make sure that there is an open and clean confession about what has happened, and that we help those people who have been put into difficulty by this abuse. You know, I welcome the Pope's visit to Britain. And I want him to come to Britain for two reasons: one is the Catholic Church is a great part of our society, and we should recognise it as such, and I hope every British citizen wants to see this visit by the Pope take place. Secondly, we must break down the barriers of religion that exist in our world. The faiths must come together and recognise they have common values and common interests. They all believe that we should be good neighbours to each other. I'm from the Presbyterian religion, but I support the visit, but I not only support it, I want religious faiths to work more closely together.

You know, on all these big issues, I think we're proving ourselves to be a tolerant and understanding nation. We introduced civil partnerships, and therefore we changed the laws on homosexuality and said to people, if you're gay or straight, you have a place in British society. I think for many people, that was a great liberation, and I'm pleased that it has happened in Britain in these last few years. On human embryology, I've disagreed with the Catholic Church because I believe if you can treat a disease by using embryos that are enabling us to make sure people can be free of some of the conditions that afflict their lives, we should do so under the right rules. I'm sorry that in principle there is a disagreement with the church on that. On the question of contraception, I think we know that in Africa, we know round the world, that it is important to give women access and choice so that they can make their own decisions, and I regret the fact that the Catholic Church does not do that. The Pope should come to Britain, we should have these debates and we should welcome all religions because bringing religions together is the key to making sure that we have a more peaceful world.

RELATED ARTICLESExplain
Visualizing the Prime Ministerial Debates
International questions
D. Do you back the Pope's visit?
GB: Welcome Pope's visit, but Church has to deal with its problems
Church must make sure that there is an open and clean confession
Cruel abuse by people in whom victims had placed faith and trust
Disagree with the Pope on human embryo research
Don't agree with the Pope on contraception
We introduced the law on civil partnerships
Catholic church is a great part of our society
Must break down barriers of religion that exist in our world
Gordon Brown (International)
DC: Welcome the Pope's visit to UK, but don't agree with all his views
NC: Welcome Pope's visit, hope for greater recognition/openness first
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