I don't and wouldn't deny anyone the right to see, praise and take spiritual sustenance from the leader of their religion.

But the whole 'Head of State" visit is a farce. Why should I, or the rest of my countrymen, foot the bill for what is a religious visit?

agreed.

I don't see the Vatican State declaring they need to cut back on the wages of their public servants. But half of his security bill detail

would cover the wages of other social services which would benefit the living conditions of other less advantaged people.

This is a form of Christian belief? You can keep it, kthnxbai.

And ty Thema and you fabulous pants. On a solo rant as this took over our news for a whole damn week.

A week when a political leader, Imran Farooq, from Pakistan was killed in London, that caused rioting in Karachi. And we get 'Popemania".

My crowd of atheists haven't helped it with the crap the pope's been saying about secular people etc... we draw a lot of attention to that

Which I can understand the outrage about. I'm not agnostic or atheist but I'm not a Christian either. I find Benedict XIV insulting.

But he is the head of the Catholic Church. Which has many adherents, who are entirely free to worship the Church and its diktats.

He just shouldn't be exploiting wearing his 'Head of State' hat when visiting a multi-cultural/religious country when it is a religious tour

Yep, you're right. They should not mix.