Clare works as a home missions advisor for the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales.

What will be your personal involvement in the Papal visit?

I've been remitted by the Bishops to further projects that they would like to be done for missions in our countries and, naturally, a lot of the work this year has had a large focus around the Pope's visit. In terms of specific projects that we've been working on, in the last six to eight months they are many and varied! This is probably the most exciting home mission opportunity in our generation. I work alongside the media team and we try to serve journalists and look for creative ways to explain what the Catholic faith is, who the Pope is, what are the things that people are going to experience and see in the itinerary. So there is a lot of work going on at the moment - particularly with the media teams - in ensuring that the papal visit is understandable.

Understandable to whom specifically?

To different generations, people in different geographical areas, people who are Catholic, people who are not Catholic, other Christian denominations and other faiths. So there is going to be an awful lot of work done, particularly on the papal website, on careful use of language. The thing is, the Catholic Church has a massive dictionary with a huge amount of words and terms. You could actually have a conversation with someone who isn't Catholic and has never been to church and have them not understand a single word! It would almost be like a foreign language to them. So that is why our work here is going to be of such importance. The papal visit is for everyone, religious or not, and I believe it is our duty to make sure that people will not be turned away by a language barrier. We don't want to isolate people or cut people off, quite the opposite! So far we have written FAQs even on the really basic questions such as: What is Mass? What is Holy Communion? What happens after we die? So we've worked really hard.

What will you be doing when the Pope actually comes to London?

We will be offering something called the Catholic enquiry office where people can ask questions about the Catholic faith and get answers via returned phone call or e-mail. There will be a team of people from nearly every diocese in the country who will give their time and effort to respond to enquiries. There is a wide selection of people on the phones, of all sorts of ages. We even have a ninety-five year old helping us! It really inspired me when I found out about her because it made me realise that even at her age you can be full of enthusiasm about your faith and still want to share it – truly inspiring! We are also working with BBC regions in providing interviewees for the radio stations.

What do you think the Pope's message will be to people?

I think the main message of this event is to reflect on how can I share the story that God is speaking to my heart and through my heart how can I speak on behalf of God to others? That's really why the Pope is coming here – he is sharing, from his heart, his faith and his values and I think he will want to encourage every Catholic to share similar stories of how God has spoken to them in a way that is understandable, joyful, sincere, respectful and relevant. The Pope is coming to begin something new in the life of the Church and so one of the pieces of work that I am involved in (and which will be on the Papal website) is to carry on the journey. This mission doesn't end when the Pope goes home – we should use the inspiration gained from Cardinal Newman and the Pope to carry on our journey through materials, resources and activities.

Interview with Laurie Taylor