Looking Ahead to Pope's Trip to Portugal

John Allen has a good pre-analysis of the Pope's visit to Fatima next week.

Portugal is becoming steadily more secular and recently passed a same-sex marriage bill, subject to a presidential veto, so this visit was always going to address the problems of secularism in Europe. But recent events in the European economy will give it added weight and relevance.

Like John Paul II, Benedict XVI has consistently argued that Europe must rediscover its Christian roots and that the continent cannot be bound by financial ties alone.

The Pope is scheduled to leave for Fatima on Tuesday but the volcanic cloud, currently passing over Portugal, Spain and Italy, may cause problems.