Pope Benedict told a gathering of 4,000 British youth today, “You there are the future saints of the twenty-first century.”
Pope Benedict also warned Great Britain of the rise of atheism comparing it to the rise of of the Nazis.
The Daily Mail reported:
The Pope issued a clarion call to defend Christianity last night, saying Christmas was at risk of being struck from the calendar.
In a strongly worded speech delivered in Parliament, Benedict XVI bluntly told politicians not to ‘silence’ religion and discourage public celebration of its most important festivals.
And in a thinly veiled attack on controversial equality legislation, he said laws which forced Christians to act against their consciences were wrong.
‘There are those who would advocate that the voice of religion be silenced, or at least relegated to the purely private sphere,’ he told senior politicians and public figures.
‘There are those who argue that the public celebration of festivals such as Christmas should be discouraged, in the questionable belief that it might somehow offend those of other religions or none.’
He spoke as security was tightened around the Papal visit after the arrest of six central London street sweepers over a suspected terror plot to attack him.