Leah: The leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope, arrives in Britain tomorrow for a four day visit. It's a big moment for millions of Catholics in the UK as it's the first time the Pope has visited in more than 25 years. Hayley's been to Vatican City in Italy where the Pope lives, to find out more about him.
Hayley: This is the Vatican City. And the man in charge, the Pope, lives just over there. But why is the Pope so special?
Robert Mickens: Well if you think of it in the sense of every family has a father or a mother or grandparents or the head of the family, in a similar way the Catholic Church has a head of the family - a father figure - and that's the Pope.
Hayley: Well the first Pope is believed to have been St Peter, one of Jesus's disciples who came to Rome 2000 years ago. And since then the Pope has been the man that millions of people look to for how to live their lives. This is the current Pope - he's called Pope Benedict the Sixteenth. He's German, and check this out - he loves cats and classical music. Thousands of people come every day to try and get a peep at the Pope, and hear what he has to say.
Hayley: What do you think of the Pope?
Girl: Oh he's a legend. Yeah, he's such an inspiration to people.
Boy1: I mean to see him today face to face was just absolutely amazing.
Boy2: For a Catholic he is, in the Catholic view, God's representative on Earth.
Hayley: One thing you can be sure of is that wherever the Pope goes big crowds follow. So you can expect to see thousands of people filling up the streets in the UK when the Pope comes to visit us at home. (end of video report)
Leah: And while many people are excited about the Pope's visit, there are others who disagree with what he stands for, and with some of the things he's done. To find out more tune into Newsround at 5 o'clock on BBC One.
Wednesday's 5pm programme included Hayley's earlier report but with slightly different edits, after which there was a short discussion about the controversy surrounding the Pope's visit.
Sonali: First, the leader of the Catholic Church, the Pope arrives in Scotland tomorrow for a four day visit to the UK. It's a big moment for the millions of Catholics in Britain, as it's the first time a Pope has visited in more than 25 years.
Ore: In a minute we'll be looking at why there are mixed feelings about his visit, but first Hayley's been to Vatican City in Italy where the Pope lives, to find out a bit more about him.
Hayley's video report
Ore: So he has got a lot of followers. But there are also lots of people who don't agree with what the Pope stands for. In recent years it's become clear that some children in care of Catholic priests have been mistreated.
Sonali: Now the Pope did apologise earlier this year in a letter but he's been accused of not doing enough to uncover exactly what went on.
Ore: Critics say some groups of priests stopped children speaking about being mistreated because they didn't want to give the Church a bad name. So we asked an expert on the Church to explain more.
Robert Pigott: This has been a huge problem for the Catholic Church, not just in this country but around the world during the last few years. And it's because a few priests have mistreated children who've been placed in their care. And I think what's made people so angry and disappointed and to feel so let down is that the priests were in a position of trust - they were trusted by parents to look after the children. And I think people are also asking why the Pope, who is the leader of all the Catholic priests in the world, didn't do more to stop it happening.
Sonali: So the Pope's visit starts tomorrow when he lands in Edinburgh. And thousands are expected to be there to welcome him.
Ore: Hayley will be following him throughout the day for us, so make sure you're back with us for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment