LONDON — Britain’s Foreign Office issued a hasty apology Sunday to Pope Benedict XVI after publication of an internal memo in which officials joked he could open an abortion clinic, launch a range of condoms or sing a duet with Queen Elizabeth II during a four-day visit in September.
The document, sections of which were published in the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, also proposed the pope could bless a gay marriage and acknowledge the clerical sex-abuse scandal by establishing a hotline for victims or honoring abuse whistle-blowers.
Junior officials wrote the memo following a brainstorming session intended to discuss ideas for the visit, the first to Britain by the head of the Roman Catholic Church since Pope John Paul II in 1982.
Though some included advice on approaching the abuse scandal, the ministry condemned many of the proposals as “ill-judged, naive and disrespectful.”
Britain’s ambassador to the Vatican, Francis Campbell, met senior Vatican officials to offer a formal apology, and one individual involved in drafting the memo has been transferred to other duties, the ministry said.
Vatican spokesman Rev. Federico Lombardi said an apology from Britain had been received. “They supplied all the explanations, and there is nothing to add,” Lombardi said.
