From the archives: John Paul II’s visit to Britain

No need to explain why we’ve disinterred this piece by Peter Ackroyd, on the last papal visit to Britain, from the Spectator archives. And, to the left, the cover image by Garland from that week’s issue. As news emerges that five people have been arrested in connection with a terror plot against Benedict XVI, a reminder that papal visits are always replete with global-political significance:

The Pope and his princeling, by Peter Ackroyd, The Spectator, 5 June 1982

The pilgrims arrived in Canterbury, carrying their fold-up chairs in plastic Sainsbury bags; strange rumours on the train from London: ‘You can’t get into town without a permit. They say they’ve stopped all the cars for three miles … They’ve taken the door off the cathedral’. ‘They’ hadn’t, in fact, but it was encased in scaffolding as if in danger of crumbling. Inside, the primarily Anglican congregation settle down in anticipation: lots of waves and smiles, clergymen clutching their tickets with that benign, slightly silly, expression which clergymen always seem to have.