Alive and well

...anti-Catholicism, that is. And seemingly entrenched in the British government.

Over the weekend a memo that originated in the Foreign Office was made public. The memo listed a series of activities that "the ideal visit would see" when the Holy Father Benedict XVI travels to Britain this fall. The suggested activities include: the launch of "Benedict" condoms; the Pope opening an "abortion ward;" and the Pope blessing a "civil partnership," among other things.

To be fair, some of the suggested activities are good and, indeed, have already been done by the Holy Father, such as the proposed "announce sacking of dodgy bishops" (apparently the Foreign Office doesn't keep up with the news).

The Foreign Office has apologized for the memo, saying, "This is clearly a foolish document that does not in any way reflect UK Government or Foreign Office policy or views. Many of the ideas in the document are clearly ill-judged, naive and disrespectful ." At the very least, the latter is true.

I daresay such a list would never have circulated - nor even been drafted - if the staff of the Foreign Office were preparing for a visit of the Dalai Lama.