Earlier this week, Kasper told the German magazine Focus that arriving in Heathrow, the first destination of the papal tour, makes him “think at times that you've landed in a Third World country.”
Kasper also said in the interview that England is a “secular and pluralistic” country facing a “crisis of faith” though he did not explain what the connection with the third world was.
He asserted that Christians are discriminated against in the UK, adding, “an aggressive new atheism has spread through Britain. If, for example, you wear a cross on British Airways (BA), you are discriminated against”.
The BA sparked controversy in 2006 after it took disciplinary action against one of its staff for her refusal to cover a necklace with a cross that she wore on the outside of her uniform.
The Pope, who will fly to Britain by Alitalia, is to use the same airline rather than the British Airways for his flight back to Italy, a decision which is deemed a “break with the tradition”.
Against the backdrop of Kasper's remarks and in spite of remarks by the Vatican press office saying the decision was made for reasons of "simplicity," analysts believe choosing not to use the British airliner can have wider implications on Vatican's real attitude toward England.
Normally, the pontiff uses a native airliner of the host country to which he visits for the return flight back to the Vatican.
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