Britain’s Foreign Office apologized on Saturday for a memorandum by a civil servant suggesting Pope Benedict should open a hospital abortion ward when he visits Britain this year.
The document, which was leaked to the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, also included proposals that the pope should bless a gay marriage and launch papal-branded condoms when he comes to Britain in September.
The paper said the ideas, ridiculing the teachings of the Catholic Church against abortion and contraception, resulted from a “brainstorming” session. It said Britain’s ambassador to the Vatican had expressed the government’s regret to senior officials there.
“This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK government or FCO [Foreign and Commonwealth Office] policy or views,” a spokesman for the FCO said. “Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful.”
The paper said the proposals, drawn up by a junior civil servant in a memo headlined “The ideal visit would see ...”, were circulated among officials in Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s Downing Street office and at the Foreign Office.
The document, which had a cover note admitting that some of the plans were “far-fetched,” also alluded to sex scandals involving pedophile priests in a number of countries by suggesting that Benedict should launch a helpline for abused children.
Other ideas included getting the pontiff to perform forward rolls with children to promote healthy living and even performing a duet with Queen Elizabeth, the Sunday Telegraph said.
A Foreign Office spokesman said no ministers had been shown the document and it was withdrawn when senior officials became aware of it. The individual responsible had been moved to other duties.
“He has been told orally and in writing that this was a serious error of judgment and has accepted this view … The FCO very much regrets this incident and is deeply sorry for the offence which it has caused. We strongly value the close and productive relationship between the UK government and the Holy See and look forward to deepening this further with the visit of Pope Benedict to the UK later this year,” the spokesman said.
Benedict’s trip from Sept. 16 to Sept. 19 will be the first papal visit to Britain since 1982. He is scheduled to meet the queen and the Archbishop of Canterbury, spiritual head of the Anglican Church.
IDENTITY: A sex extortion scandal involving Thai monks has deeply shaken public trust in the clergy, with 11 monks implicated in financial misconduct Reverence for the saffron-robed Buddhist monkhood is deeply woven into Thai society, but a sex extortion scandal has besmirched the clergy and left the devout questioning their faith. Thai police this week arrested a woman accused of bedding at least 11 monks in breach of their vows of celibacy, before blackmailing them with thousands of secretly taken photos of their trysts. The monks are said to have paid nearly US$12 million, funneled out of their monasteries, funded by donations from laypeople hoping to increase their merit and prospects for reincarnation. The scandal provoked outrage over hypocrisy in the monkhood, concern that their status
Trinidad and Tobago declared a new state of emergency on Friday after authorities accused a criminal network operating in prisons across the country of plotting to kill key government officials and attack public institutions. It is the second state of emergency to be declared in the twin-island republic in a matter of months. In December last year, authorities took similar action, citing concerns about gang violence. That state of emergency lasted until mid-April. Police said that smuggled cellphones enabled those involved in the plot to exchange encrypted messages. Months of intelligence gathering led investigators to believe the targets included senior police officers,
The United States Federal Communications Commission said on Wednesday it plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the US that include Chinese technology or equipment. “We have seen submarine cable infrastructure threatened in recent years by foreign adversaries, like China,” FCC Chair Brendan Carr said in a statement. “We are therefore taking action here to guard our submarine cables against foreign adversary ownership, and access as well as cyber and physical threats.” The United States has for years expressed concerns about China’s role in handling network traffic and the potential for espionage. The U.S. has
A disillusioned Japanese electorate feeling the economic pinch goes to the polls today, as a right-wing party promoting a “Japanese first” agenda gains popularity, with fears over foreigners becoming a major election issue. Birthed on YouTube during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading conspiracy theories about vaccinations and a cabal of global elites, the Sanseito Party has widened its appeal ahead of today’s upper house vote — railing against immigration and dragging rhetoric that was once confined to Japan’s political fringes into the mainstream. Polls show the party might only secure 10 to 15 of the 125 seats up for grabs, but it is
RSS