Vatican Report

JT: Pope Benedict is making a four-day trip to Great Britain, and there's a lot of interest in what he'll have to say. On the Vatican Report we'll talk about the themes of the visit, and also take a look at a speech he gave the German ambassador this week, where the pope made some very strong arguments about God, religion and society. I'm John Thavis, Catholic News Service Rome bureau chief.CG: And I'm Carol Glatz, CNS Rome correspondent. On his long-awaited visit to Scotland and England, the pope is meeting with the Queen and political leaders, celebrating open-air Masses, visiting a home for the elderly, and making a major address from Westminster Hall. It's the first time a pope has traveled to Britain since 1982, and the whole visit has historic overtones. It's also an ecumenical event. The pope will meet with the leader of the Anglican church, which is still the dominant church in England, and attend evening prayer with other Christian leaders in Westminster Abbey.JT: The centerpiece of the visit is the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, a 19th-century English theologian who left the Anglican Church and embraced Catholicism. It's interesting, though, that talking to Vatican officials, I'm being told that although ecumenical issues are important, they are not going to take center stage on this visit. Instead, the pope is expected to zero in on the wider themes of his pontificate: the place of God in people's lives, and the rightful place of religion and religious values in society.CG: That's something the pope has returned to again and again on his trips throughout Europe. He believes Europe's deep Christian roots are threatened by secularism and indifference, and he's said the church's priority must be to reawaken a sense of faith among Christians and defend the church's voice in the public square. His speech to the new German ambassador this week was a case in point. The pope warned of moral and ethical erosion, particularly on issues like same-sex marriage and euthanasia.JT:  Right, and he said a big factor in this weakening of moral principles was that people today seem to have a new concept of God -- as a vague and impersonal force that has little real impact on individuals or society. This is a change the pope has been warning about since the day of his election. He says this idea of a God uninvolved in human affairs creates a downward spiral in society: people lose moral and spiritual strength, and social questions are determined more and more by private interests and balances of power.CG: The pope's talk to the German ambassador was unusually hard-hitting, focusing on specific issues under debate in Germany. On foreign trips, he's not quite so blunt -- in part because he wants local church leaders to deal with specifics, while he talks more about the moral principles. But when it comes to Germany, the German pope doesn't hesitate to be more direct and more detailed. I'm Carol Glatz.JT: And I'm John Thavis, Catholic News Service.

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