A senior Papal adviser has pulled out of the Pope's UK visit after saying arriving at Heathrow airport was like landing in a "Third World" country.
Cardinal Walter Kasper reportedly told a German magazine the UK was marked by "a new and aggressive atheism".
The Vatican said the cardinal had not intended "any kind of slight" and had pulled out because of illness.
The UK Cabinet Office said his views were personal and not representative of the Vatican or bishops in the UK.
The German-born cardinal was quoted as saying to the country's Focus magazine that "when you land at Heathrow you think at times you have landed in a Third World country".
He also criticised British Airways (BA), saying that when you wear a cross on the airline "you are discriminated against".
'Talking nonsense'In 2006 a BA employee was told to stop wearing a cross at work. She took the case to an employment tribunal claiming religious discrimination, but lost, also losing her subsequent appeal.
BA changed its uniform rules in 2007, allowing staff to display a faith or charity symbol.
Vatican sources said Cardinal Kasper - who stepped down in July as the head of the department that deals with other Christian denominations - was suffering from gout and had been advised by his doctors not to travel to the UK.
They also said his "Third World" comment referred to the UK's multicultural society.
The Cabinet Office said the cardinal had worked hard to build ecumenical relations between the Catholic and Anglican faiths.
BBC News
