Habemus Papam!

Civitas, 16 September 2010

Pope Benedict XVI is beginning his tour of Britain today and shall be seen by millions of Britons – on their TVs. This is because access to the Pope is limited to Catholics with congregational links and a decent sized wallet. Tickets to the event cost up to £25, which prices many Catholics out of the market to see their religious leader and smacks of simony. This seems unfair, not just for poorer Catholics but non-Catholics as well, who are almost entirely unable to see him.

The price of the tickets ignores the fact that Catholicism in the UK is shored up by a significant number of immigrants, such as from Africa and Eastern Europe. These Catholic immigrants often have limited disposable income, and the Holy Father’s visit is, for many, simply too costly to afford. It is no surprise therefore that there are still 10,000 tickets unsold as the Pope’s supporters cannot back up their enthusiasm with finance. The cost of the tickets is unfair on these worshippers, who had already contributed £1.1 million by mid-August to cover the Papal visit through donations. The British Catholic is having to stump up a total of £7 million for the Pope’s visit, despite the recession and the huge private reserves the Vatican could draw on.

A wiser manoeuvre would have been to charge less for the ticket so that demand would have risen to meet supply. A morally acceptable alternative would have been to give discounted tickets to poorer parishes. Requiring the purchase of tickets to be organised at the parish level has in itself been a problem, preventing those without strong local links from attending. As it is, the excess tickets will be serving no purpose at all, except that the empty seats may highlight the Church’s miscalculation.

The British taxpayer is also being asked to contribute £12 million to the visit, despite the fact that the vast majority of taxpayers are non-Catholic. This issue has already created a storm of debate, but the crucial point is that these non-Catholics have no access to see the Pope – they are effectively paying for someone else’s benefit. This divisive problem could have been allayed by selling the surplus ten thousand tickets on to interested non-Catholics who would pay for the privilege, sorting financial and diplomatic quandaries in one fell swoop. The excuse often used to prevent such a move is that it would raise ‘security issues’, but this is a non-argument given that the taxpayer is paying for the police and others to patrol the events. Why should they be prevented from enjoying the benefit of something they have paid for?

That this open ticket sale hasn’t happened, despite the fact that it would be easy to arrange, is effectively a snub to the majority of Britons and means that the chances to see the pope are few and far between. For those in London tomorrow for example, the only opportunity for the no-ticket buying public to see the pope will be an awkward 15 minute slot as he rides the ‘Popemobile’ through Millbank – not a particularly awe inspiring event.

There is an inherent contradiction in the Papal visit: he is coming as the head of the Vatican State (hence the public funding) but is only publically available as the head of the Catholic Church. The former implies a visit to all the people of Britain while the latter is to those of his faith. Such a balance could have worked if the Papal progress was open to all, but the closed off approach seems unreasonable given that his message of love and peace is normally universal in its approach. The claim that he comes as a head of state is also entirely overshadowed because Cameron, Clegg and Harman will only get just over half an hour to talk to the Pope. Perhaps this is unsurprising, but the point remains that the state angle is almost tokenistic.

The lack of acknowledgement of the non-Catholic British population in the preparations for the Pope’s visit risks overshadowing the whole four day visit and leaving a legacy of bitterness. Similarly, Catholics unable to see him may feel disappointed. Whatever the emotions: when, or now more possibility if, another papal visit to Britain occurs – it must be funded and organised in a very different manner to prevent another Split from Rome.