We do not intend to enter into any argument about whether Pope Benedict XVI, when Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or as Archbishop of Munich, dealt adequately with allegations of child abuse by paedophile priests.

We shall leave that to others who know the facts about these complex matters better than we do.

But one thing we certainly shall say. From his writings and from his demeanour it is clear to us that Pope Benedict is a man of prayer and of great personal humility.

In short, a man of God, for whom, as for St Paul, "to live is Christ". It was these qualities that won the American people over to him when he visited the United States last year.

Did the then Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger make mistakes? Well, maybe. Even the holiest of men make mistakes. St Peter himself blundered badly on several occasions and in much more serious ways. His were not simply errors of judgement.

So although we don't consider waving flags for the Pope to be of the essence of Christianity, we think that, tomorrow, we should turn out in great numbers to greet Pope Benedict.

And during his brief stay with us we should show that our loyalty to him is not going to be shaken by the often uninformed and sometimes malicious criticism being levelled against him by some sections of the media.