The Pope will arrive in the UK for his four-day trip on Thursday More than 50 public figures have added their names to a letter in the Guardian newspaper saying the Pope should not be given the “honour” of a UK state visit.
Authors Terry Pratchett and Philip Pullman and actor Stephen Fry are among those critical of the Vatican record on birth control, gay rights and abortion.
Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Scotland and England begins on Thursday.
The co-signatories are not against a tour, but “reject the masquerading” of the Vatican as a state.
Other signatories to the letter in the Guardian include: Professor Richard Dawkins, Ken Follett, AC Grayling, Stewart Lee, Claire Rayner, Lord Foulkes, Lord Hughes, Professor Steve Jones, Sir Jonathan Miller, Diane Munday, Lord Taverne, Peter Tatchell and Baroness Turner.
They say the Pope “as a citizen of Europe and the leader of a religion with many adherents in the UK, is of course free to enter and tour our country”.
But they say the Vatican has “been responsible for: Opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of Aids; promoting segregated education; denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women; opposing equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; failing to address the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation”.
The letter goes on to say it has also resisted signing many major human rights treaties and has formed its own treaties with states which “negatively affect the human rights of citizens of those states”.
According to the writers, calling the Pope a head of state is “convenient fiction to amplify the international influence of the Vatican”.
The letter comes after Downing Street released a video message on Tuesday in which Prime Minister David Cameron said the Pope would be offered a “very warm welcome” on his UK visit.
In the film, posted on the No 10 website, he said the visit would be “a very special four days, not just for our six million Catholics, but for many people of faith right across Britain and millions more watching around the world”.
Mr Cameron added: “It’s a unique opportunity to celebrate the enormous contribution that all our faith communities make to our society and to celebrate their role in helping to build a bigger and stronger society.”
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