Why are the media so utterly hostile to the Pope?

Well, musicmum, don't say “no” in the poll on the CT website asking if Caitlin Whatshername should be censured. Vote YES! http://www.catholictruthscotland.com/papalvisit…

It's absolutely disgraceful that such comments have gone unchecked, whereas, and I know we all know this by now, if she'd been similarly insulting about a leader of, say Islam, she'd probably have been sacked.

This is where wearing a cross could cost you your job. Where the mere intention of praying for someone is regarded in the same way as an obscene gesture. Where an individual too bladdered with cheap booze and very little in the brain department urinates on a war memorial dedicated to selfless men and women who died for our tomorrows, including theirs! Where a middle aged woman can first stroke an innocent cat then coldly take it by the scruff of the neck and dump it in a wheelie bin to world revulsion; where the same thing happens to aborted babies every day and nobody is allowed to see it on the evening news. Where Catholic adoption agencies are forced to close because what the previous Government signed into law was against the agency's conscience and faith – by not allowing same-sex couples to adopt children. Where the kind of things that are said against the Roman Catholic Church cross the threshold of journalistic balance and impartiality too, too far and – if it was said about anyone else in similar tones – would find the Press Complaints Commission, legal writs and the High Court breaking down the door of those responsible followed a published, public apology.

Welcome, Holy Father.

The Church is busy out there in the poorest countries feeding the poor, dressing the wounded, nursing the sick (especially those who have HIV AIDS and other diseases), counselling those who have been hurt by abortion, divorce, bereavement and desertion as well as to the lonely, neglected and marginalised in our neighbourhoods. Successive popes have enabled many organisations to do these good things by approving the constitutions of religious and lay orders to go out there in the world as well as into our neighbourhoods. They are miracles of the kind you and Richard Dawkins et all will either refuse to understand or, quite simply, NEVER.

God is content with the small things we do with great kindness, not the other way round.

The devil tempted Jesus in the desert with similarly expressed tasks you are challenging the Pope to do. Christ told the devil to go away in no uncertain terms. The Pope is not Christ but his Vicar on earth.

There is one other answer…some months on, it appears that Caitlin Moran’s tweet was a succinct and pretty accurate summary of the situation. Tens of thousands of abused children and a papal cover up. Cailin’s reference to the state of sin of those who criticise the catholic church is a clear sign of delusion. I support Pimpoo’s recommendation; you should consult a psychiatrist.