One Less Pope

I am usually a fan of the BBC's news site, but I think they might have got this a bit wrong:

It seems to be implying that the front five members of the Pontiff's personal motorcycle display team are in some way linked to "Pope terror". Surely not.

I am a little disappointed with the Pope's UK holiday so far. Yes, one of his cronies said Britain was a Third World country, and yes, he's been spouting the usual laughable nonsense about how the Nazis were atheists, therefore secularism is terribly dangerous (a non-sequitur based on a generally untrue premise), but he hasn't done anything really loony or interesting yet.

Today he was busy Pontiff-icating in front of a load of kids bussed in from all over the country. Can you imagine how thrilled they all were? I for one would have liked him to have taken the opportunity to do a little juggling, or maybe sing a chorus of Wonderwall in that gentle German lisp that unaccountably puts me in mind of Laurence Olivier in Marathon Man. Or show us all his sense of humour with a quick balloon dog made out of condoms.

But no. What are we all paying for? Somehow I can't help feeling we'd all be better off with just one less Pope on our backs.