The the 'senior member' of the Catholic Church referred to may be Cardinal Walter Kasper (the Vatican's leading expert on relations with the Church of England) who, on the eve of Pope Benedict's visit, told a German magazine: "When you arrive at Heathrow you think at times that you've landed in a third world country." A vatican statement claimed he was 'merely highlighting' Britain's multi-ethnic makeup. Kasper pulled out of the trip due to his gout but was able to attend a dinner at the German embassy in Rome as... "He cannot walk at the moment, but he can sit, so he decided to attend."
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