Researchers hail Pope's visit to city as successful

THE Pope's visit to Edinburgh has been hailed as a success by an academic study.

However, the researchers warned Benedict XVI's day in the Capital had done little to combat negative views of the Catholic church.

A team from Queen Margaret University's International Centre for the Study of Planned Events carried out interviews with 100 people watching the parade along Princes Street on September 16 and also took photographs to gauge spectators' reactions.

More than a third of those questioned said the event exceeded their expectations and a number said it had been busier, well organised, better natured and more of a spectacle than they originally imagined.

But it was revealed today that Catholics will be asked to dig deep for a special collection this weekend to pay for an 800,000 shortfall from the visit. Scotland's bishops were given a target of 1.7 million as their share of the costs. This weekend's fundraising effort may just be the first in a series.

Professor Joe Goldblatt, who headed the research, said: "When analysing the longer-term impact of the event, people said that they would have very positive memories of the event, but only a few believed that the event would help to transform negative images about the Catholic Church into positive ones."

The interviews attempted to measure people's immediate reaction to seeing the Pope, as well as identifying whether people experienced a lasting legacy from the papal visit.

Prof Goldblatt said: "The majority of people believed that the reason for the success of the event was the excellent organisation of the visit, the opportunity to see Pope Benedict in person, and the very positive experience of a community coming together.

"Overall, it would appear that although people were mixed in the personal benefits people expressed the positive experience of togetherness and community that they derived from the event."

The researchers found many people who just happened to be in the area when the visit was taking place but had not originally planned to attend also reacted positively.

Catholic Church spokesman Peter Kearney said: "This empirical analysis is a very welcome corroboration of the anecdotal evidence of tens of thousands of people, that the visit was a hugely successful and positive event. It is fascinating to be able to study individuals' reactions to the visit in such a structured way."