Pope's visit seals a joyous year for Francis

THE Rathfriland man charged with organising Pope Benedict's visit to Britain last week said he was honoured to complete his final year in office with such an historic event.

Francis Campbell, British Ambassador to the Holy See since 2005, had a stressful few weeks in the lead-up to the four-day state visit from the leader of the Catholic Church.

He had to organise, among other things, the security and logistics for the 12 million visit, transporting the famous Popemobiles to Britain and the Pontiff’s exact destinations.

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The visit to Scotland and England came on the back of a year of controversy and scandal for both the church and the Government. Earlier this year leaked memos from junior Government officials involved in a brainstorming session ahead of the Pope’s visit caused upset as they appeared to mock and cause offence.

Coupled with this came a change of Government from Labour to Conservative, as well as intense speculation about Mr Campbell’s successor.

Mr Campbell, who was the subject of a television documentary earlier this year, acknowledged the difficulties he faced this year but said it has been an honour to finish with a state visit of the Pope.

“This isn’t the final year in office that I expected, but I wouldn’t swap this, I wouldn’t swap it for anything,” he said.

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“To finish with a visit just before I leave is really the culmination of my time here.”

Former Prime Minister, Tony Blair, paid tribute to Mr Campbell, who received an honorary doctorate from Queen’s University last year.

“Francis has done what I wanted to have happened, he’s significantly upgraded the relationship, and the papal visit in a sense is the outward visible expression of that.

Following on from this year’s “Our Man in the Vatican” series which followed Mr Campbell as he completed his daily duties in Rome, another documentary charting the visit preparations will be aired on BBC One this Sunday September 26 at 7.30pm.

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