Mixed British feelings about Benedict

"There's been no interest in doing a book on the papal visit," Andreas Campomar, editorial director of Constable & Robinson, told The Telegraph. "Instead, there's an appetite for anti-Catholic, anti-pope books centred on priestly abuse."

In what's been the annus horribilis of the Catholic church, when every day seems to bring news of sexual abuse by priests, Britain's four million Catholics are looking for reassurance. Pope Benedict XVI will be expected to provide it when he visits Scotland and England from 16 to 19 September.

This will be a very different papal visit compared to that of Pope John Paul II in 1982. Blessed with Hollywood glamour and capable of Churchillian rhetoric, the Polish pope embodied the energy of the Catholic church 30 years ago as it resisted totalitarian regimes around the world, and he got a hero's welcome. Benedict XVI, however, can expect threats of a citizen's arrest and protests from survivors of priestly abuse.

The visit will begin in Edinburgh, where the pope will be received by Queen Elizabeth II and members of the royal family in Holyrood House.