The Catholic Church in Scotland has insisted its plans for the Papal visit are “unchanged” amid claims the historic event is in disarray with spiralling costs and could be scaled down. Senior church sources said planning for the Scottish leg of the four-day visit was “on time and on budget” and that recently emerged problems were confined to England. The part of the bill that must be paid by the Catholic Church across the UK is now being put at as much as £14m, twice the earlier estimate, which could lead to events being scaled down or even cancelled. Although unrelated to the costs issue, it has also emerged that the attendance of the open-air mass at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park will be closer to around 130,000 than 200,000 due to the demographic attending. Since many of those at Bellahouston will be elderly or in family groups, and will be there for the best part of the afternoon and evening, it is anticipated that the capacity will have to be brought down to give worshippers more space.Details of the burgeoning costs come a fortnight after Catholics across the UK were asked to donate money as part of collections to fund the visit. Costs for the visit, scheduled between September 16 and 19, are being split between the state and the church, with the Government reported to be spending around £15m on state events such as the Pope’s reception by the Queen at Holyroodhouse. Security will be tight because of expected protests by high-profile opponents of the Vatican such as gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and Richard Dawkins, the atheist author who wants the Pope arrested. Strathclyde Police Chief Constable Steve House has postponed a briefing to members of his governing body on the costs to his force as he is still in discussing the matter with the Scottish Government. The Catholic Church in Scotland will have to pay about £1.3m for the open-air mass at in Glasgow but believes this will come down to about £1m. With more than £1m being spent on the visit by Scottish taxpayers, church and civic authorities are trying to calculate the financial benefits to Scotland by visitors coming and global exposure. Leading Catholic commentator Damian Thompson revealed this week that the Catholic Archbishops of England and Wales had learned that some major venues were still not booked. Thompson said the centre-piece of the visit south of the border, a mass at Coventry Airport where the beatification of Cardinal Newman would take place in front of a congregation of 200,000, could be cancelled as the Vatican was opposed to it being confined to 10,000 at a nearby seminary. Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: “The Scottish Bishops are continuing with arrangements for a visit, which will comprise arrival in Edinburgh, a reception with the Queen, a motorcade through the city followed by lunch at Cardinal O’Brien’s house, then transfer to Glasgow for an open-air public mass.” SIC: HScot
Sunday, June 06, 2010
Church says Papal visit unchanged despite claims over costs
The Catholic Church in Scotland has insisted its plans for the Papal visit are “unchanged” amid claims the historic event is in disarray with spiralling costs and could be scaled down. Senior church sources said planning for the Scottish leg of the four-day visit was “on time and on budget” and that recently emerged problems were confined to England. The part of the bill that must be paid by the Catholic Church across the UK is now being put at as much as £14m, twice the earlier estimate, which could lead to events being scaled down or even cancelled. Although unrelated to the costs issue, it has also emerged that the attendance of the open-air mass at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park will be closer to around 130,000 than 200,000 due to the demographic attending. Since many of those at Bellahouston will be elderly or in family groups, and will be there for the best part of the afternoon and evening, it is anticipated that the capacity will have to be brought down to give worshippers more space.Details of the burgeoning costs come a fortnight after Catholics across the UK were asked to donate money as part of collections to fund the visit. Costs for the visit, scheduled between September 16 and 19, are being split between the state and the church, with the Government reported to be spending around £15m on state events such as the Pope’s reception by the Queen at Holyroodhouse. Security will be tight because of expected protests by high-profile opponents of the Vatican such as gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell and Richard Dawkins, the atheist author who wants the Pope arrested. Strathclyde Police Chief Constable Steve House has postponed a briefing to members of his governing body on the costs to his force as he is still in discussing the matter with the Scottish Government. The Catholic Church in Scotland will have to pay about £1.3m for the open-air mass at in Glasgow but believes this will come down to about £1m. With more than £1m being spent on the visit by Scottish taxpayers, church and civic authorities are trying to calculate the financial benefits to Scotland by visitors coming and global exposure. Leading Catholic commentator Damian Thompson revealed this week that the Catholic Archbishops of England and Wales had learned that some major venues were still not booked. Thompson said the centre-piece of the visit south of the border, a mass at Coventry Airport where the beatification of Cardinal Newman would take place in front of a congregation of 200,000, could be cancelled as the Vatican was opposed to it being confined to 10,000 at a nearby seminary. Peter Kearney, spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said: “The Scottish Bishops are continuing with arrangements for a visit, which will comprise arrival in Edinburgh, a reception with the Queen, a motorcade through the city followed by lunch at Cardinal O’Brien’s house, then transfer to Glasgow for an open-air public mass.” SIC: HScot