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| Pope will visit UK later in year | Pope will visit UK later in year |
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| Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed his plan to visit Britain later this year. | Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed his plan to visit Britain later this year. |
| The pontiff spoke of the plan for his first apostolic visit in an address to Catholic bishops of England and Wales at the end of their pilgrimage to Rome. | |
| The Pope said he "constantly remembers" Catholics of England and Wales "in his prayers" and "holds them in his heart". | |
| He is expected to visit Birmingham as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman. Pope John Paul II made the last UK papal visit in 1982. | |
| In the speech, published on the Vatican Radio website, Pope Benedict offered his "warmest good wishes and prayers" for the bishops and all the faithful entrusted to their care. | |
| Your country is well-known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society Pope Benedict XVI | |
| In an apparent reference to the Church's stance on issues such as gay adoption, the Pope urged the bishops to ensure that its moral teaching was always presented in its "entirety" and "convincingly defended". | |
| He said: "Your country is well-known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. | |
| "Yet, as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. | |
| "In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed." | |
| He urged the bishops to continue to insist upon their right to participate in national debate through "respectful dialogue with other elements in society". | |
| By doing so, the Pope said, they would be "maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion" as well as "giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them". |