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Could the Pope be arrested?

In all the recent news about abuse in the Catholic church that has been some speculation that even if direct blame could be placed at the feet of the Pope then he would not be arrested or tried for it. As a head of state he would have diplomatic immunity. The only heads of state that have ever been tried, that I’m aware of, were Milosevic who was tried for war-crimes which an exception was made for, and Pinochet who was at the time no longer head of state.

The Pope will never stop being head of state as he will remain in office until death and he hasn’t committed any war-crimes (other than joining the Hitler Youth) so it would seem nigh on impossible that blame would ever be laid upon him in a court of law.

Until now! Dawkins and Hitchens are investigating whether or not they could have the Pope arrested during his state visit to the UK. I think it’s still highly unlikely to happen but it’s more critical news in the media which can only encourage him to get his house in order.