Top of the Popes
One story is dominating today’s press (most of it at least, the Daily Star is leading with George Michael’s prison sentence), that is the state papal visit to Britain.
The Sun leads with the picture of 9 year old cancer sufferer Anton McManus who has written to the Pope in the hope that his Catholic faith will help alleviate the symptoms of a spinal tumour he has been diagnosed with (it is currently in remission). The headline reads “Bless me Holy Father & help keep my cancer away.”
McManus also takes centre stage at the Daily Telegraph alongside a headline which will strike fear into the hearts of British atheists. It quotes Conservative party chairman Baroness Warsi, a Muslim, as stating: “We will restore faith to heart of Britain.”
The Daily Record meanwhile leads with the story that singing sensation Susan Boyle collapsed after being informed she would meet the pontiff backstage after her Bellahouston Park gig.
The guardian adopts a different tack, picking up on the ongoing fall out from the derogatory remarks of a senior Pope aide in relation to the UK. Their headline points out that the Pope’s visit is set to be overshadowed by the row.
A very similar headline graces the Daily Mail with the words “Pope flies into a storm”, emblazoned across the front page. The paper also picks up on the expected chaos from demonstrators and traffic jams.
The Cardinal’s “Third World” jibe makes it to The Times header too with the paper reporting that the remark; together with criticism of a “new and aggressive atheism,” threatens to derail the carefully laid propaganda of the visit.