How will young people respond to a pope with an austere image who was once dubbed \u201cGod\u2019s rottweiler\u201d\u009d? Feelings have been running high about style. Even while Benedict plans to celebrate the prefaces and canons in Latin, organizers have approved a rap theme song for his visit: a hip-hop version of \u201cHearts Cry\u201d\u009d by a Catholic trio named Ooberfuse. \u201cWe wanted to break some of the stereotypes,\u201d\u009d a member of the band told the press.<\/p>\n
A somewhat strange theme in public discourse has been whether Benedict can turn the tide of secularism. Some traditionalists nurse the idea that the Vatican only temporarily conceded the British Isles to a flawed Protestant version of faith and has been biding its time to launch a fresh mission. They see the Personal Ordinariate for dissident Anglicans as marking the beginning of a comeback.<\/p>\n
Benedict will go softly softly on this and will likely not invoke Augustine of Canterbury as a motif for Roman Catholic mission in the U.K. Contrary to the popular view, Augustine did not bring Christianity to these shores. He found a Christian queen in Kent, and a Celtic church that could boast of being represented at the Council of Nicea. The future is not about the domination of one tradition, but understanding and cooperation among the enormous variety of Christians in Britain today.<\/p>\n