Interview with Monsignor John Dale (head of Missio in England)

Missio is the Catholic Church’s official support organisation for overseas mission. The Pope specifically asks Missio to help bring the Good News of Christ to the world, especially in countries where the Church is new, young or poor. Missio cares for and supports the younger churches until they are able to be self-sufficient.

What will be your personal involvement in the Papal Visit?

My personal involvement will actually be very minimal, but some of our staff here at Missio HQ will be providing materials for the Hyde Park event. I will be attending with the staff, but I will be there as an observer rather than a co-ordinator or in any kind of authoritative position.

How do Popes John Paul and Benedict compare?

They don't really compare at all, they both have very different backgrounds and are different characters, one was forced to join the Hitler youth, the other was forced to go into hiding, to give but one example. I think both Popes are brilliantly academic men in their own rights. I very much like Pope Benedict, he really is a lovely bloke, almost like your favourite Granddad! I find him a very kindly and attentive man. As far as comparing them both with handling issues within the Church, again it is difficult to draw a likeness to their situations. Social circumstances are very different now to what they were when John Paul was Pope. The impact of Islam across the globe as well as the enormity of the problem of child abuse has really hit home and I think that Benedict has done his best to provide a balanced approach to it. I think a big problem with these cases is, obviously the incidents themselves, but also with the way the media has handled them. The media has a vested interest so they will only show one side to the story and not cover what is being done to prevent future occurrences of abuse and the ways in which the church is dealing with these cases. It's all about selling papers. I personally think he has done very well in spite of everything and I believe history will be kinder to him than the current media.

What do you think the Pope will have to say? What will be the overall message?

I think he will have lots of important things to say to us and to remind us of. He will remind us that we are a missionary church, since 'to be a Christian is to be a missionary', as we say at Missio, and every one of us is baptised a missionary. No doubt he will mention that being a missionary involves a lot of sacrifice and struggle and I think the call to witness will be very, very significant particularly for young people. I would imagine the overall message will be something along the lines of having us (youth in particular) think for ourselves and prepare to put our lives on the line for the sake of mission. The youth are the future of the Church and it is so crucial that the message hits home to them.

Interview with Jess Taylor