UK a Third World country, says papal aide

ONE of the Pope’s senior advisers pulled out of the visit to Britain in controversial circumstances over a German magazine interview in which he described the UK as a Third World country marked by “aggressive atheism”.

“When you land at Heathrow [Airport] you think at times you have landed in a Third World country,” Cardinal Walter Kasper, 77, told Focus magazine, a day before Benedict XVI’s state visit to Britain, which begins today.

Cardinal Kasper went on to say: “Above all, an aggressive new atheism has spread through Britain. If, for example, you wear a cross on British Airways, you are discriminated against.”

He did not elaborate but the British airline was recently involved in a high profile dispute with one of its staff over her decision to wear a cross.

The Vatican moved quickly to limit the damage of the comments.

A Vatican spokesman said the Cardinal, who recently stepped down as the long serving head of the pontifical Council for Christian Unity, had not intended “any kind of slight”. Instead he was referring to Britain’s multicultural society, the spokesman said.

The Vatican said that Cardinal Kasper would no longer accompany the Pope to Britain as originally planned but insisted this was “for health reasons”.

Vatican sources told The Times that Cardinal Kasper was suffering from gout and had been advised by his doctors not to travel.

“Cardinal Kasper will not be traveling with the Pope, but this is because of illness and in no way connected to the interview,” a Vatican spokesman said.

The embarrassment for the Vatican came as the controversial atheist Professor Richard Dawkins said he will lead protests against the Pope during his prayer vigil in London this weekend.

Professor Dawkins will speak alongside a homosexual Catholic priest, Father Bernard Lynch, at the protest outside Downing Street, the official residence of the British Prime Minister, Saturday.

Earlier that day, the Pope will meet David Cameron to discuss issues such as the Millennium Development Goals, poverty and justice.