St. Paul's Footsteps? Good idea - Opinion

The police have arrested 16 people in a sweep of old Nicosia, where Pope Benedict is due to stay after his arrival on the island June 4th in his mission to follow the footsteps of St. Paul.

Old Nicosia is packed to the brim with temporary migrant workers, both legal and illegal, who have built up communities and brought a lot of life to the centre of the city. The possibility that most of them are probably Catholic doesn't seem to have occurred to the police force, who are cracking down on security ahead of the pope's visit, they said.

It got me thinking. In one of his Epistles, St. Paul promised to 'remember the poor', and often brought gifts to the poor in Jerusalem. Perhaps the Pope's visit will inspire similar behaviour in Cyprus and remind us all that the financially disadvantaged can be remembered and helped, not swept under the carpet if they threaten to become inconvenient.

Then again, perhaps not...