The last time a Pope made an official visit to Britain, in 1982, the issues facing the Roman Catholic Church were more overtly political.

The Cold War, the West’s covert involvement in organising armed resistance in Afghanistan against the USSR’s Red Army, the proliferation of nuclear weapons, economic recession and civil war in Northern Ireland were urgent, overwhelming concerns. To some degree they overshadowed abortion and contraception – perennial problems of organised religion.

Pope John Paul II, who came here on a pastoral visit paid for by the Roman Catholic Church, was one of the few international figures who embodied real hope for change, even among non-Catholics.

The first thing he did when he set foot on terra firma at Gatwick Airport was to kneel and kiss the ground.

His successor, Pope Benedict XVI, here on a state visit, comes to a country in which there is renewed concern about abortion and contraception, as well as drug addiction and human trafficking (not issues in 1981), women priests and child abuse by Catholic priests.

These are deeply-troubling times for Rome. You don’t have to be an atheist to empathise with the view of Irish singer Sinead O’Connor, who described the Vatican as “a nest of devils”, or the 50 public figures such as Stephen Fry and Terry Prachett, who wrote a letter of protest about the state visit to a national newspaper.

Brian Eddy, former manager of the Yorkshire Bank in Bradford, wouldn’t go that far. Born and raised a Roman Catholic and still a regular churchgoer, his views are mostly orthodox except on the issues of child abuse and priestly celibacy.

He says: “The abuse has been hidden and I think it is an absolute sin, profane to say the least. You’ve got to condemn it. To hide a profanity is worse than the sin itself.

“Have these atrocities been committed because priests are not allowed to marry? Do those who go to the seminary at the age of 18 really know the meaning of celibacy? The sin of the Catholic Church is that priests cannot marry.”

Patrick Howley was raised in the White Abbey area of inner-city Bradford. He attended St Patrick’s Church in Sedgefield Terrace – birthplace of Room At The Top novelist John Braine – and spent many years as a top officer in Bradford Council’s housing and environmental health departments.

He says: “From where I stand, outside of this, my family are practising Catholics and what I see in my family are people going to church, being part of the local community of people who are good people.

“I think the strength of the Roman Catholic Church lies in the parishes and congregation – not the management, the Vatican, which needs a real overhaul.

“I have tremendous respect for parishes because they deal with day-to-day problems, some of them very serious. From what I know, Father Eamonn up at Our Lady and First Martyrs on Heights Lane, is brilliant. I have a lot of respect for the church at that level.”

There are 141 parishes in the Roman Catholic diocese of Leeds, which covers all West Yorkshire, 35 of them in the Bradford Metropolitan District; but there are fewer inner-city churches.

“I don’t like to see the church embroiled in the mess it is in,” says Mr Howley. “The hierarchy has a lot to answer for. My view is, and I have said this in Catholic circles, if the bureaucracy in the Church doesn’t grow up, across Europe, I think the role of the church will diminish.

“If the European Union can move its parliament from one country to another (Belgium and France), I think the Pope and his entourage should live in South Africa for five years and then South America for another five years. That would put them back in touch with the real world,” Mr Howley adds.

Mr Eddy disagrees. He said: “I think the wickedness in the world will draw more people back into religion.”

In spite of protests and criticism, Pope Gregory can be assured of a warm welcome by thousands of Catholics, including up to 200 young Bradford choristers, members of the Bradford Youth Choir taking part in Sunday Mass in Birmingham.

At the Polish Church, Edmund Street, on Saturday evening and on Sunday, a total of 700 people are expected to attend three Masses.

Parish priest Father Wieslaw Duracz said: “Polish Catholics in Bradford are delighted their Pope is coming. We have special prayers for him on Sunday.”