Popes Visit (costs)

bearfraser
bearfraser Posts: 435
edited September 2010 in The bottom bracket
The Popes visit is going to cost us all £15-20 million not including the policing costs for a suposed "State"????????????? visit. Surley we must be due some free condoms or at least a rebate from the mother church in Engerland. :x :x :x
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Comments

  • jrduquemin
    jrduquemin Posts: 791
    They should send the bill to the Catholic church. I'm sure they still have plenty of blood money left over from WWII they could pay with....
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  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Who cares - at least some people are getting paid to work!
    _
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fuck in Italy.
    Ben

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  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    They've tried to get Catholics around Britain to pay some of the costs but as he is only visiting a few parts of the country they don't want to pay either. As a Catholic myself I don't see why anyone should be footing the bill other than the Vatican, after all it is surely his job to travel the world visiting Catholics worldwide. It's a bit like a company CEO saying he will only visit satelite offices if they pay the costs! Perhaps the state visit parts should be covered by the country as they are for any other visiting dignataries (the Vatican is after all a recognised State) but none of the other costs should be paid by the taxpayer.
  • giant_man
    giant_man Posts: 6,878
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.
    +1!!
  • Cleat Eastwood
    Cleat Eastwood Posts: 7,508
    But the popes house is massive, he could invite every catholic in the world to and still have room for Gary Glitter and his entourage.
    The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns
    momentarily from the herd and thinks for himself.
  • shm_uk
    shm_uk Posts: 683
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.


    Yeh, but there's probably loads of atheist-related stuff paid for by the state that religious folks don't agree with, so it all evens out in the end ...
  • fast as fupp
    fast as fupp Posts: 2,277
    shm_uk wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.


    Yeh, but there's probably loads of atheist-related stuff paid for by the state that religious folks don't agree with, so it all evens out in the end ...

    like.....................?
    'dont forget lads, one evertonian is worth twenty kopites'
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    fast as fupp wrote:
    shm_uk wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.


    Yeh, but there's probably loads of atheist-related stuff paid for by the state that religious folks don't agree with, so it all evens out in the end ...

    like.....................?

    The large hadron collider? Government pays huge amounts of money towards it and the only benefit of the experiments appear to be to provide evidence to atheists that the universe wasn't created by a superior being :wink:
  • rhext
    rhext Posts: 1,639
    fast as fupp wrote:
    shm_uk wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.


    Yeh, but there's probably loads of atheist-related stuff paid for by the state that religious folks don't agree with, so it all evens out in the end ...

    like.....................?

    Abortions would be the obvious answer.......
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    rhext wrote:
    fast as fupp wrote:
    shm_uk wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.


    Yeh, but there's probably loads of atheist-related stuff paid for by the state that religious folks don't agree with, so it all evens out in the end ...

    like.....................?

    Abortions would be the obvious answer.......

    I don't think you have to ne an atheist to support that though do you? Nor indeed would an atheist necessarily be supportive of it but it is a subject on which a debate is likely to get out of control and best left alone!
  • Will Snow
    Will Snow Posts: 1,154
    Pross wrote:
    [
    The large hadron collider? Government pays huge amounts of money towards it and the only benefit of the experiments appear to be to provide evidence to atheists that the universe wasn't created by a superior being :wink:

    You are very not good at science
    i ride a hardtail
  • Pross
    Pross Posts: 43,463
    I'd say the obvious retort is why do we foot the bill for state visits by the likes of a US President and in many cases dignitaries from countries with (even?) worse human rights violations than the Vatican?
  • rick_chasey
    rick_chasey Posts: 75,661
    Pross wrote:
    I'd say the obvious retort is why do we foot the bill for state visits by the likes of a US President and in many cases dignitaries from countries with (even?) worse human rights violations than the Vatican?

    Because they have big guns.

    The pope does not.
    _
  • takethehighroad
    takethehighroad Posts: 6,821
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.

    You could try living in a secular country then.
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    Pross wrote:
    They've tried to get Catholics around Britain to pay some of the costs but as he is only visiting a few parts of the country they don't want to pay either. As a Catholic myself I don't see why anyone should be footing the bill other than the Vatican, after all it is surely his job to travel the world visiting Catholics worldwide. It's a bit like a company CEO saying he will only visit satelite offices if they pay the costs! Perhaps the state visit parts should be covered by the country as they are for any other visiting dignataries (the Vatican is after all a recognised State) but none of the other costs should be paid by the taxpayer.

    A very refreshing view, mate. Thumbs up!
    Ben

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  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    fast as fupp wrote:
    shm_uk wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.


    Yeh, but there's probably loads of atheist-related stuff paid for by the state that religious folks don't agree with, so it all evens out in the end ...

    like.....................?

    Yes like what? What was the most recent atheist event to be held in the UK?
    Ben

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  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    TakeTheHighRoad wrote:
    Ben6899 wrote:
    I do find it a bit 'off' that as an atheist, some of the tax I pay will be going towards a visit by the head of the Catholic Church. For all I care, the old sod can stay the fark in Italy.

    You could try living in a secular country then.

    I'll be able to do that in a few years, if things carry on as they are.
    Ben

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  • fast as fupp
    fast as fupp Posts: 2,277
    I'll be able to do that in a few years, if things carry on as they are.[/quote]

    we live in hope
    'dont forget lads, one evertonian is worth twenty kopites'
  • Ben6899
    Ben6899 Posts: 9,686
    People can do what they like. I don't particularly live in hope, but I think we're going that way...
    Ben

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  • Mr Dog
    Mr Dog Posts: 643
    Keep him out, and his pedo gang. We owe it to those who had their lives ruined.

    Spend the money on something useful.. fix the roads :x
    Why tidy the house when you can clean your bike?
  • AndyD2574
    AndyD2574 Posts: 1,034
    Keep him and his perverted crew away!!!
    £15 million to watch some old codger in a dress talk pish!!??!!??

    85000 apparently expected to watch this..........the funny thing is in Glasgow he is going to Bellahouston Park..............right next to Ibrox....................where Rangers play...................classic...............who planned that!!??!!

    Religion = danger...................but thats only my opinion!
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  • Smokin Joe
    Smokin Joe Posts: 2,706
    I hope we're not going to be expected to cough up everytime the leader of a nutty religeous cult visits us.

    As he was complicit in covering up child abuse by his priests and allowing offenders to carry on working with children the odious old b@stard should be doing time in the slammer, not making state visits.
  • rhext
    rhext Posts: 1,639
    Whether you're religious or not, the Pope is head of a vast global organisation. He's a head of state in his own right (the Vatican being a state, as I understand it), but he also represents Catholics from all over the globe. If you equate practicing Catholics to 'citizens' that's equivalent of a state many times the size of the UK.

    If the US President offered to come here on a state visit, would we say 'yes, but only if you pay your own expenses'? To my mind, we'd be poor hosts if we did. And the potential repercussions could easily include an economic fallout as US citizens and corporations decided that the UK was not top of their list of places to do business with.

    Same goes for the Pope. We could be churlish and refuse the visit, or force him to pay his own expenses. And send a message to 00s of millions of Catholics around the world that the UK is not a good place to visit or buy goods from.

    £15M seems a bit of a bargain to me!
  • Cressers
    Cressers Posts: 1,329
    How much was spent on Bush's state visit?
  • Crapaud
    Crapaud Posts: 2,483
    rhext wrote:
    Whether you're religious or not, the Pope is head of a vast global organisation. He's a head of state in his own right (the Vatican being a state, as I understand it), but he also represents Catholics from all over the globe. If you equate practicing Catholics to 'citizens' that's equivalent of a state many times the size of the UK....
    Depends what you mean by 'state'. As I understand it, the status was granted by Mussollini, but to be a State you have to have an indiginous population - which a population of celibates cannot have.
    A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject - Churchill
  • rhext
    rhext Posts: 1,639
    Crapaud wrote:
    rhext wrote:
    Whether you're religious or not, the Pope is head of a vast global organisation. He's a head of state in his own right (the Vatican being a state, as I understand it), but he also represents Catholics from all over the globe. If you equate practicing Catholics to 'citizens' that's equivalent of a state many times the size of the UK....
    Depends what you mean by 'state'. As I understand it, the status was granted by Mussollini, but to be a State you have to have an indiginous population - which a population of celibates cannot have.

    Catholics? Celibate? Is that right?

    Anyway, arguing over definition of a state misses the point. The fact is he's head of an organisation of 100s of millions of people whom it would presumably be to our disadvantage to have thinking 'I can't believe the UK showed such disrespect'.....
  • Crapaud
    Crapaud Posts: 2,483
    rhext wrote:
    Crapaud wrote:
    rhext wrote:
    Whether you're religious or not, the Pope is head of a vast global organisation. He's a head of state in his own right (the Vatican being a state, as I understand it), but he also represents Catholics from all over the globe. If you equate practicing Catholics to 'citizens' that's equivalent of a state many times the size of the UK....
    Depends what you mean by 'state'. As I understand it, the status was granted by Mussollini, but to be a State you have to have an indiginous population - which a population of celibates cannot have.

    Catholics? Celibate? Is that right?

    Anyway, arguing over definition of a state misses the point. The fact is he's head of an organisation of 100s of millions of people whom it would presumably be to our disadvantage to have thinking 'I can't believe the UK showed such disrespect'.....
    It's populated by clergy, I understand, not ordinary catholics.
    A fanatic is one who can’t change his mind and won’t change the subject - Churchill
  • redwinnie
    redwinnie Posts: 42
    I am reminded of a quote I saw somewhere

    "If 50 believe something they are delusional, if millions of people believe something it is called religion"
  • Ash_
    Ash_ Posts: 385
    Crapaud wrote:
    Depends what you mean by 'state'. As I understand it, the status was granted by Mussollini, but to be a State you have to have an indiginous population - which a population of celibates cannot have.

    But don't forget the Swiss Guards, I don't think they have to be celibate - although the chances of getting anyone into bed with you when dressed like this is pretty unlikely:

    swiss-guard.jpg

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