I do think it's welcome that the Pope is coming to Britain, and I would, if I was your Prime Minister, I would want to support that visit and make sure I could do everything in my power to make it a success. There are millions of people in our country who will welcome that, who shares the Pope's Catholic faith and I think we should try and make a success of it. Do I agree with everything the Pope says? No, I don't agree with him about contraception. I don't agree with him about homosexuality, and I think the Catholic Church has got some very, very serious work to do to unearth and come to terms with some of the appalling things that have happened, and they need to do that. But I do think we should respect people of faith. I think faith is important in our country. I think faith-based organisations, whether they are Christian or Jewish, or Muslim, or Hindu, do amazing things in our country, whether it is working in our prisons or providing good schools or actually helping some of the most vulnerable people in our country. A country where faith is welcome, yes, a visit from the Pope, yes, but does that mean we have to agree with everything he says? No. Again, I would say to Michael that, again, I would be agreeing with you, and against the Pope in terms of, for instance, the need to make advances in... er... in science. I don't think we should - obviously, you need proper protections and proper rules, and we debated them at great length in the House of Commons, but I do want to see that go ahead. Also, on the issue of abortion. There are lots of areas I don't agree. I don't think that means you should stop someone visiting our country or condemn them. We must try and build a open and tolerant country where we respect people for their different faiths, we bring faiths closer together with each other and we are prepared to have an open and frank discussion about these things. That's the only way to go. It's nice to hear that pretty much we all agree about that. |