Papal visit - 'The world will watch us welcome him'

AS most of the city prepares to welcome Pope Benedict XVI tomorrow, it would be foolish not to accept that some people are opposed to his visit - and many others are completely indifferent to it.

As the debate on pages 10 and 11 today makes clear, this is at least in part down to the problems which have beset the Roman Catholic Church in recent times.

Benedict himself is not the unifying figure that Pope John Paul II was, and moreover the church has been rocked and split by a string of sex abuse scandals.

The News has previously revealed the protests of Orange Order groups and individual critics, while the Rev Ian Paisley will bring his own views to a city church.

As ever, free speech is to be encouraged, especially when it challenges illiberal attitudes within the church hierarchy which, polls suggest, most Catholics do not share.

But as a city we have selfish reasons to hope that the Pope is given the generous greeting befitting a visitor on a state visit.

The world will be watching and will expect us to live up to our reputation as welcoming and broadminded people. There's not a lot we can do to ensure they also see good weather. But please feel free to pray if you are so minded.

Toilet training

ANYONE who has been caught short while outdoors can sympathise with those who think it a mistake to halve the number of public toilets in the city.

Jenny Dawe's suggestion that pubs and other businesses might make their facilities available to fill the gap makes sense, but it would require a change of heart by many.

An increasing number already have "Customer Use Only" signs, while one pub even put a lock on the toilet door which needed a pin number supplied by bar staff.

The council will have to make it worth owners' while to change that culture. Given that businesses will have to cover costs of cleaning, a cut in business rates or even a fee would not seem unreasonable - though shop and pub owners shouldn't demand too much, as doubtless they will benefit from extra sales from this passing trade.

Though given what happens to the hapless American who asks to use a Leith pub's toilet in the film Trainspotting, it would also be understandable if tourists were reluctant to do the same - however fictional that depiction.