Stephen Hough is a concert pianist, composer and author. He was recently listed as being one of Britain’s 100 most influential lay Catholics.
“Pope Benedict is very lovable, warm and humane old man. You simply can’t look at him and see evil, as his critics have led us to believe.
But there is not one magic sentence he can utter that will make all of those against him think ‘Oh, I was wrong’; those people are probably not going to revise their opinions, whatever he says. But if he comes as a simple, humble pilgrim, a gentle smile will be worth a thousand words.
Even if you can’t change minds, you can melt hearts.
The church has not caught on to the fact that we live in post-Christian times. It seems to think we are still dealing with a few people who cannot be bothered to go to Mass. We need to forget about the old assumptions and start again. It fascinates me that the Dalai Lama has such appeal even though people don’t really know what he stands for. He is appreciated because his existence is so simple.
This trip has become far too big and expensive. We are all aware of what is going on in the world in terms of poverty and natural disaster, and it gives completely the wrong image to have Benedict sweeping in like some old-style emperor, costing the country tens of millions of pounds.
Peter Sheppard is an acclaimed designer and marketing entrepreneur; he is also chairman of the Catholic Heraldnewspaper
“To be honest I’m a bit nervous about this visit. I don’t know how the public are going to take it. I think it may turn out to be a marvellous occasion, but so far it’s been tarnished by so much sniping, and the uncertainty as to whether this is a church or state occasion.
It’s impossible not to contrast it with the visit of John Paul II in 1982; that was a unique occasion, the first time a pope had visited the UK.
Britain was a Protestant country then, now it’s a post-Protestant nation; as an ex-Anglican this is something I’m very aware of. The tone of the BBC and many newspapers is that faith is somehow a ‘speciality area’, confined to a brief ‘God slot’; the underlying premise on which everything is based is that Christianity is irrelevant. I hope Benedict doesn’t say anything silly. That’s my main concern.
It doesn’t matter what good things he says, they won’t be reported – but if there is any slip-up it will be seized upon by our media. The only issues people will be interested in will be paedophilia, homosexuality, civil partnerships and birth control.
In conversation with Petroc Trelawny