NC: Welcome Pope's visit, hope for greater recognition/openness first
I'm not a man of faith, but my wife Miriam is Catholic, my children are being brought up in her faith, so I have a little bit of an insight into the immense feelings of anguish in the Catholic community here and elsewhere. And I think many Catholics themselves feel really extremely, extremely torn apart by what's happened. I think they do want to see the Catholic Church express greater openness and repentance. You can't keep a lid on sin, and of course you need to move with the times. I do welcome the Pope's visit, but I hope by the time he does visit, there is a greater recognition that there has been terrible, terrible suffering, there have been abusive relationships which have left immeasurable scars on individual people's lives and we need a process of openness and then healing. You can't undo the tragedies of the past, but you can be open about them so people can start to move on.

I think on this matter, we do. I don't agree, I've made it publicly clear in the past, that I don't agree with the formal doctrine on homosexuality of the Catholic Church, for instance. I don't agree with it at all. It doesn't mean I don't... I think there should be some, you know, uprising against the Pope's visit, quite the reverse. I would like to see the Pope here. I think the Catholic community in Britain wants to welcome him, but, as we've all acknowledged, that doesn't mean one has to subscribe to the every letter and every crossed T and dotted I of the thee theology and doctrine of that church.

Immediately related elementsHow this works
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Visualizing the Prime Ministerial Debates »Visualizing the Prime Ministerial Debates
International questions »International questions
D. Do you back the Pope's visit? »D. Do you back the Pope's visit?
NC: Welcome Pope's visit, hope for greater recognition/openness first
Can't keep a lid on sin »Can't keep a lid on sin
Don't agree with the formal Catholic doctrine on homosexuality »Don't agree with the formal Catholic doctrine on homosexuality
Have to move with the times »Have to move with the times
I am not a man of faith »I am not a man of faith
Insight from family into immense anguish felt by many Catholics »Insight from family into immense anguish felt by many Catholics
Need a process of openness and healing »Need a process of openness and healing
Recognition of terrible suffering and abusive relationships »Recognition of terrible suffering and abusive relationships
Nick Clegg (International) »Nick Clegg (International)
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