Pope 's UK visit marred with child sex abuse protests

I've been reading about the large number of protesters, as Pope Benedict XVI tours the UK this week, the first-ever state visit by a pope to Britain.

Activists have been accusing the Catholic Church of covering up child abuse, that have dogged the church throughout the world over recent years. They have also raised gay rights, abortion and birth control.

An open letter was published in The Guardian on Wednesday, from 50 prominent Britons, saying his teachings on sexual issues mean he should not be given a state visit.

Ben Woodward from the CaPTA Group, shared this with his Facebook friends, snapped in London yesterday afternoon.

The letter blames the Catholic church's opposition to the use of condoms for aiding the global spread of Aids and criticises its failure to properly tackle the clerical sexual abuse scandal.

The letter says...

• "The state of which the Pope is head has also resisted signing many major human rights treaties and has formed its own treaties ('concordats') with many states which negatively affect the human rights of citizens of those states.
  
  In any case, we reject the masquerading of the Holy See as a state and the pope as a head of state as merely a convenient fiction to amplify the international influence of the Vatican.
  
• 
  As well as a religious leader, the pope is a head of state, and the state and organisation of which he is head has been responsible for:
• - Opposing the distribution of condoms and so increasing large families in poor countries and the spread of Aids.
• 
  - Promoting segregated education.
  
• 
  - Denying abortion to even the most vulnerable women.
  
• 
  - Opposing equal rights for lesbians, gay, bisexual and transgender people.
  
• 
  - Failing to address the many cases of abuse of children within its own organisation.

Here's Pope Benedict warning against secularism, in his speech on Thursday...