British Catholics bathing in the spiritual glow of Pope Benedict XVI’s recent visit will be forgiven the sin of envy as they read the news that the Holy Father will visit Santiago de Compostela and Barcelona this weekend. For while there have been two papal visits in total to Britain this will be Pope Benedict’s second visit to Spain, with a third planned for next year.
Ah, you might say, but Spain is a Catholic country. While the Church in Spain is the Catholic one, the nation is fast moving to be secular and this is the scenario which will meet the Holy Father.
