The Pope rocks it at the venue of musical legends

It’s fair to say, he had a fair old innings, passing away at the age of 95. And he could still draw quite a crowd in his early 80s, writes Yann Tear.

The New Year’s Eve passing of Pope Benedict VI recalls the big crowds he generated at Hyde Park during a state visit in 2010.

A corner of that most famous of London parks, so often the scene of summer musical festivals and which has lured just about everyone from the classical superstar Pavarotti – bashing out Nessun Dorma in the pouring rain – to Rock ‘N’Roll greats like the Rolling Stones.

Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Jones, Paul McCartney, Patti Smith, Carol King and the Beach Boys are among the many to have had their moments there.

But on September 18 more than 12 years ago, the stage was his for what was described as a youth vigil. About 80,000 people attended.

The German-born Pope Benedict – Joseph Ratzinger – was famous for being the first Pope to resign the post in 2013, having been head of the Roman Catholic Church since 2005.

He is famously depicted watching the 2014 football World Cup Final in the Film The Two Popes with his successor Pope Francis – Anthony Hopkins playing Benedict alongside Jonathan Pryce’s Francis.

The final, you see, was Germany against Pope Francis’ nation of birth, Argentina. He retained the title of Pope emeritus until his death in December.

The Pope’s itinerary included open air Masses in Glasgow and Birmingham, an evening youth vigil in Hyde Park in London, and Mass at Westminster Cathedral in Victoria.

In contrast with the previous Papal visit to Britain, that of Pope John Paul II in 1982, where anyone could attend open-air events, there was tight security for the 2010 Papal visit.

Everyone was required to register in advance through their parish and to attend in a group with a Pilgrim Leader from that parish, who as leader had the responsibility to vouch for all members of his group.

All registered attendees received a Pilgrim Pass, required for admission to events. Non-Catholics were permitted to attend, by contacting their local parish. There was a £5 administrative levy for the privilege of attending.

The Catholic Herald ran a blog throughout the evening and reported that Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark welcomed the Holy Father in a firm voice.

He said: “We have come from all over Britain to share this moment with you. Thank you, Holy Father, for being with us this evening and leading us in this vigil of prayer.”

A day before the gathering, the Met arrested five street cleaners under the Terrorism Act in a pre-dawn raid at a London cleaning depot, to foil what they suspected might be a terrorist plot against the Pope.

A sixth person was arrested later in the day at his home “on suspicion of the commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.”

The men, aged between 26 and 50, had been working as street cleaners for contractors. But the police did not uncover any hazardous items during a search of the business premises and other properties.

Some of the suspects were thought to be immigrants to Britain, from a variety of nations including a number from Algeria, but all the men were released without charge before the Pope’s visit ended.

It turned out they were arrested after joking about how the Popemobile could not withstand a rocket-propelled grenade attack.

Meanwhile, it is said that an Imperial College physics graduate was routinely stopped, searched and security-checked by the police as a terrorism-suspect – for wandering around aimlessly with a beard.

During his visit, Benedict became the first Pope to enter Lambeth Palace, where he met the Archbishop of Canterbury and then travelled to the Palace of Westminster in his famous Popemobile and later, Westminster Abbey for evening prayers.

The tour was not without controversy, as you might expect. The final cost to the British taxpayer (excluding policing costs) of the visit was estimated to be around £10 million.

An opinion poll showed that 76 per cent of people in the UK agreed that the Pope is a religious figure so the taxpayer should not be contributing to the costs of his visit.

 

Picture: The Pope leads the evening vigil Picture: Lewis Whyld/PA Archive/PA Images