Minute by Minute | Pope Benedict in Britain September 2010

RedTracker| Pope Benedict is in Britain on the first Papal visit to the UK in 29 years. The Telegraph UK is considered a more conservative newspaper in Britain, more pro-Pope and pro-religion. The Telegraph is tracking Pope Benedict in an online ‘tweet’ so to speak, recording his message at each location. Read on: Pope Visit UK 2010: day two as it happened.

In a separate read Catholicism in the UK in numbers, we get a then (Pope Paul II 1982) and now (Pope Benedict 2010) comparison of key indicators by diocese. We’re reviewing the Westminster diocese now. The most interesting data isn’t the number of baptisms or weekly mass attendance (one in three Catholics) but the number of marriages.

Marriages in the Westminister diocese were 3,178 in 1982 and 1,139 in 2010. Note that it appears the 2010 stats, reflect only about two-thirds of the year and not the last 12 months. Considering that fact, Catholic marriages remain half of what they were in 1982.

Read also: Pope Benedict meets with David Cameron as he celebrates mass in Westminster Cathedral Daily Mail