Preparations for Pope Benedict XVI’s state visit to Britain in September have evidently not been going as smoothly as they might. A lack of information and evidence of uncertainty about the itinerary, even 12 weeks before it starts, have fuelled speculation that the organisers risk the problems overwhelming them. Mgr Andrew Summersgill, visit coordinator on behalf of the Bishops’ Conferences of England and Wales and of Scotland, responded to these suggestions in an interview on the papal visit website by saying: “All I can do is to say that yes, we are on track with the planning, and as soon as all the complex elements are in place then we will be trying to give much more clarity than we’ve been able to.”

Understandable impatience was a sign of the enthusiasm the visit was generating, he explained.

So far this enthusiasm has not been breathless, neither among the general public nor the Catholic faithful. The good news is that the new coalition Government is as keen on the visit succeeding as the former Labour Government that issued the invitation, not least because there is an even greater overlap between the likely papal agenda and the Government’s agenda than would have been the case under Labour. The even better news is that Lord Patten, Chancellor of Oxford University and former Governor of Hong Kong, has been appointed by the Prime Minister as the visit’s overlord or “tsar”, at least on the state side. The most distinguished Catholic Tory statesman of his generation is not about to mastermind a fiasco.

Gordon Brown particularly respected the Vatican’s inter­national scope and influence, on matters ranging from global warming to African economic and social development. David Cameron has spotted that Catholic Social Teaching also emphasises the importance of a vigorous civil society, and of the state not trying to do everything. This chimes harmoniously with his “Big Society” ...

Israel’s botched interception of an armada of ships trying to bring relief supplies into Gaza has now lost the nation its few remaining friends in the region, including Turkey and Egypt. The shooting that began when the boarding party was resisted by crew and passengers led to loss of life and serious injury in a confused and panicky affray on the lead vessel, the Turkish-owned Mavi Marmara. But the incompetence ...

After the shorter and the longer version of the inter-party agreement at the heart of Britain’s new coalition Government comes the Queen’s Speech, the legislative programme to translate these ideas into policy and law. There are distinctively Liberal Democrat components in the speech, and there are some that have survived from the Conservative manifesto. But this is not a traditional Tory or Thatcherite ...

At last weekend’s Kirchentag event in Munich, where Pope Benedict was once archbishop, there was disappointment that he did not attend. The massive interchurch gathering, for the second time in its history involving Catholics as well as Protestants, was a striking sign that ecumenism can still warm the blood in the land of Martin Luther, even if the impression is given that the Vatican has gone cold on the subject. ...