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Taxpayer should not fund Pope's visit - survey
More than three quarters of Britons think the taxpayer should not contribute to the cost of Pope Benedict XVI's forthcoming visit to Scotland and England, according to a survey published today.
An online poll of 2,005 adults has shown 77% do not agree that the taxpayer should help shoulder the bill for the four-day trip even though it is a state visit.
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A similar proportion - 76% - rejected taxpayer funding for the visit on the grounds that he is a religious figure.
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The findings were issued by Theos, the public theology think tank, as the Pope is due to arrive in Edinburgh on September 16, the first Papal visit to Britain since Pope John Paul II's 1982 trip.
The survey, conducted in August, shows widespread apathy in Britain towards 83-year-old Pope Benedict's arrival with 79% saying they have "no personal interest" in his visit.
Nearly one in four - 24% - agreed with the statement "I don't approve of the Pope's visit to Britain" with just under a half, or 49%, disagreeing.
Under a third, or 29%, said they believed the visit would be good for Britain while 33% disagreed.
Fewer than one in five, or 18%, agreed with the statement that the Pope generally responds "wisely" to problems in the world today, with nearly half, or 49% saying they disagreed.
A total of 41% also said they agreed that the Pope should not speak out on social and political issues with 36% disagreeing.
Nearly a third, or 31%, agreed that it was good to have a world leader such as the Pope with no political affiliation who can speak on moral issues, with 45% saying they disagreed.
The poll findings come after it was announced earlier this year that the Government costs of the trip - previously estimated at 8 million - could rise to between 10 million and 12 million.
In addition, the Catholic Church is expected to make a contribution of between 9 million and 10 million towards the costs.
The figures do not include an expected multi-million pound bill for policing the visit.
Researchers also put 12 statements - taken without naming the source - from the Pope's third encyclical letter on global development and the common good, Caritas in Veritate (Charity in Truth) to people taking part in the survey.
A majority backed 11 out of the 12 extracts from the encyclical, including 82% agreeing with the statement "technologically advanced societies can and must lower their domestic energy consumption".
There was also a majority, or 79%, in agreement with the Pope's statement "the natural environment is more than raw material to be manipulated at our pleasure".
The survey further showed 63% agreeing that "investment always has moral, as well as economic significance" with 69% agreeing that "the consumer has a specific social responsibility."
A majority disagreed with the statement: "Poverty is often produced by a rejection of God's love."
Paul Wolley, director of Theos, said: "The British public clearly has a problem with the funding of the papal visit, although this could be because they are unaware that in addition to being a religious leader Pope Benedict is also a head of state.
"It is only a relatively small proportion of people who are actively opposed to the visit itself. On the whole, the public is more disengaged than hostile.
"What is really striking is not simply that the public tends to agree with Pope Benedict's social teaching but that they agree so strongly.
"This confirms the view that beneath the terrible stories of sex abuse that have dominated coverage of the Catholic church in recent times, there remains real potential for the church to connect with the public."
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Saturday 11 February 2012
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