Popes can be grit in the oyster for British politicians. Margaret Thatcher was irritated by John Paul II’s concern over her intransigence towards the hunger strikers in the Maze.

POPES CAN be grit in the oyster for British politicians. Margaret Thatcher was irritated by John Paul II’s concern over her intransigence towards the hunger strikers in the Maze. Foreign Office officials feared that when Argentine Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope he would start calling the Falkland Islands the “Malvinas”.

Francis tries to avoid both monikers – but he has intervened forcefully over British policy towards other faraway islands: this time, in the Indian Ocean. In May, the United Nations ticked off the UK for retaining possession of the Chagos Islands when Mauritius gained independence in 1968. The UK forcibly expelled the local people and handed over one of the islands, Diego Garcia, to the US to use as a military base. As Francis left Mauritius after his visit in September he expressed strong support for the islanders’ right of return. The UN set a six-month deadline for the Brits to withdraw. That runs out this week.

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