Posted on 09/15/2010 12:39:24 PM PDT by marshmallow
A senior Papal adviser has pulled out of the Pope's UK visit after saying arriving at Heathrow airport was like landing in a "Third World" country.
Cardinal Walter Kasper reportedly told a German magazine the UK was marked by "a new and aggressive atheism".
The Vatican said the 77-year-old cardinal had not intended "any kind of slight", and was referring to the UK's multicultural society.
It added that he had simply pulled out of the Pope's visit due to illness.
The German-born cardinal was quoted as saying to the country's Focus magazine that "when you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country".
He also criticised British Airways (BA), saying that when you wear a cross on the airline "you are discriminated against".
In 2006 a BA employee was told to stop wearing a cross at work. She took the case to an employment tribunal claiming religious discrimination, but lost, also losing her subsequent appeal.
BA changed its uniform rules in 2007, allowing staff to display a faith or charity symbol.
Vatican sources said Cardinal Kasper - who stepped down in July as the head of the department that deals with other Christian denominations - was suffering from gout and had been advised by his doctors not to travel to the UK.
Not all of the cardinal's comments in the interview were critical of the UK.
He also said: "Everyone who knows England knows that there is also a great Christian tradition there."
'Talking nonsense'
The Pope is spending four days in Scotland and England, starting on Thursday.
The BBC's correspondent in Rome, David Willey, said the cardinal's reported comments were "a slightly clumsy thing to have done on the eve of the visit".
However, he added that he did not think it would......
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...
In Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life”, in the first part when they go to “The Third World”, isn’t it Birmingham they go to?
There is a certain amount of truth to his observation. I guess that is not approved, having objective observations.
“when you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country”.
That’s because you have.
It probably was teeming with muzzys and other third world types transiting back and forth between civilized nations and their third world hell holes.
I would have thought it would be Hull or Bradford(istan).
Several local authorities are now debating whether or not to introduce a ‘lite’ version of Sharia law in some streets. Not quite stoning rape victims or stabbing Jews, just simple things like making shops close on Fridays or ordering women to cover their arms and heads.
Will us English, historically stroppy and famous for putting down trouble from Lexington to Lucknow, be more anxious to show how decent and tolerant we are than defending our way of life ?
Not this one. Been on EDL marches and am planning the next one !
LOLOL
He is absolutely correct about it resembling a third world.
I came back from a “Third World” country in May of 2004 and had an overnight in London. I didn’t want to spring for a taxi or a hotel, but I was totally unprepared for the nastiness of British Customs when I showed my passport and told them I desired to stay at Heathrow, rather than leave the complex.
That wasn’t the end of it. Getting on my flight to O’Hare, the attendant refused to allow me to bring my carry-on with me, though it had been in the overhead in both directions.
If ever I fly to another country and need to change planes in London, I’ll request Gatwick, just to see if all Brits in transportation are as nasty as at Heathrow.
Yeah, that was my impression. Not sure what the question is here? Did the Pope perhaps send the Cardinal back to get some real spaghetti, maybe even some cut zitti, for the visit, or maybe a couple of open faced sandwiches for a midnight snack.
You are aware that we've had Jewish courts and specially marked streets that allow activities on the Sabbath for many years, aren't you?
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