The Pope's Visit 2010
Post categories: Joseph Ratzinger,ÌýPope Benedict XVI,ÌýPope John Paul II,ÌýThe Pope
| 16:47 UK time, Tuesday, 31 August 2010
On the morning of 28 May 1982, an Alitalia 727 aircraft touched down at London Gatwick airport. Minutes later knelt down and kissed the tarmac.
What followed was an historic and demanding six-day tour of the UK that gripped the nation, and dominated the news both in the UK and around the globe.
I was a football-mad boy just about to turn thirteen and residing in Bolton when I watched his arrival in 1982. I - like others of around my age - remember being enthralled by Blue Peter and Newsround features about the visit - and who can forget marveling at the all-important Pope mobile.
I had little concept of what the Pope's visit to our shores really meant to the millions of Catholics in the UK. I just knew that this man was causing a bit of a stir when he turned up in his very different looking car. Like all things when you are a child, the fascination passed quickly, but my memory of his visit remains, and what really sticks in my mind especially is the sheer size of the crowds who came to see him in Heaton Park in Manchester.
Today - as a forty-one year-old man - I am now preparing for the first visit of a Pontiff for 28 years (and the first ever State visit) and I am in a very different place. I am obviously a lot older, I hope wiser, a father myself, and I am very proud to now be the Ö÷²¥´óÐã's Head of Religion and Ethics and the Commissioning Editor for Religion TV. And this papal visit by the current - rather than being a passing fascination, is on my mind every minute of every day, morning, noon and night. Why? Because I, along with many of my colleagues across Ö÷²¥´óÐã TV, radio and online, are getting ready to cover this historic State occasion with a myriad of eclectic programming.
The Pope's visit from 16 -19 September is being organised and paid for by the Catholic Church (in England and in Scotland) and by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It has polarised public opinion like no other before and you only have to open a paper to see that it has got the nation talking. What will happen when he gets here and, more importantly, what he may say, is sure to dominate the news agenda. His arrival on the 16 September will also mark - and be the culmination of - many months of planning and organisation (not to mention sleepless nights) for our Ö÷²¥´óÐã teams working on all the aspects of covering the Pope's Visit 2010.
From the production crews working on all the live events, to the news teams across the Ö÷²¥´óÐã, down to the documentary producers finalising programmes giving an important insight into some of the wider issues that surround the papacy of Joseph Ratzinger, this has been an extremely busy, fraught but entirely fascinating few months.
The UK has changed a lot in those 28 years since the last time we greeted a Pontiff, and the Britain that awaits Pope Benedict XVI as he ascends to the tarmac is a very different place than the Britain that awaited Pope John Paul II. It is more multicultural, secular and, thanks to the recent controversies that have rocked the Catholic Church, the current Pope will no doubt be met by some very vocal groups who are against him being here altogether. However, for the majority of the many millions of Catholics in the UK, the Pope's arrival will be much looked forward to and also celebrated.
One thing is for sure, this is a State event, that will be both newsworthy and of national interest and significance, and, as the nation's broadcaster, it is appropriate that we cover it in the best way we can - with the scale, depth and overall balance of programming across all our platforms - TV, radio and online - that only the Ö÷²¥´óÐã can deliver.
I hope you manage to watch some of the coverage, and you find it as fascinating as I undoubtedly will.
You can find details of all the programmes to coincide with the Pope's Visit 2010 by following the below link.
Aaqil Ahmed isÌýCommissioning Editor for Television. Head of Religion and Ethics
Comment number 1.
At 6th Sep 2010, Chasatty01 wrote:I am really incenced that we, the general public, are being told that we are to put £12,000,000 towards a visit by a man who will do what? No one asked me. The whole visit is reported to cost £ 24,000,000, and what long term good will it do. We are all told that there will be 'cuts', but what are we supposed to think when we are told that the government will be spending amounts like this, when there is so much need at home.
I'm not normally a grouch, but in the present monetery climate I cannot see what good will come of this visit.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 1)
Comment number 2.
At 15th Sep 2010, kp wrote:I strongly oppose the visit being given such coverage by the Ö÷²¥´óÐã. I do happen agree with those who consider that the visit should not be elevated to that of a state visit. However, even given that the visit is a state visit, since when is this level of coverage given to a state visit by any other leader? A side item on the news is the norm. This pope has considerable questions surrounding him and the decisions he has made both during and prior to his papacy. We should quite simply not be giving a protector of criminal acts the screen time.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 2)
Comment number 3.
At 16th Sep 2010, jabbajockey wrote:On every level--this is a TOTAL DISGRACE. WE, a rapidly growing atheistic country---ie. Shedding thousands of years of religious mind controlling idiocy---should pay colossal sums of OUR tax money, in these unprecedented times of impending cutbacks---to protect and pander to one mans needs. WHY?--His message--whatever that is, is completely undermined by his refusal to say and do, what his followers are obviously to much in thrawl, to insist on---A complete and unequevical condemnation of the vile perpetrators of evil acts of abuse, on the most vunerable and innocent children in their care stretching back into ---anyones guess. Without a doubt, to my mind, this heinous crime would still be hidden and continuing had it not been revealed by the brave few who found immense courage in being able to ward off the massive pressures put on them by the church's army of bullies. There has to be a clensing from the TOP--without it, this visit is meaningless and will cause even more loss of 'FAITH'.
Complain about this comment (Comment number 3)