Beatification on the Pope's final day

Away from diplomacy, politics and PR (it is a state visit remember) today being Sunday is the religious climax of the trip.

I’m in Cofton Park, Birmingham where around 55,000 turned out to see Pope Benedict XVI perform his first beatification since becoming Pope in 2005, of Cardinal John Henry Newman.

The beatification comes amid what the Catholic church deem a miracle of curing a man’s agonising spinal disorder. One more identified miracle and it all moves to canonisation and Newman’s then a saint.

Which rather begs the question – are their 1,000s beatified, but awaiting canonisation?

It appears Newman will be far from alone in the Waiting Room of the Saintly.

There are scores of global interest groups within Catholicism steadily promoting their man or woman for sainthood, year upon year, across the world.

With the issue of meeting victims of sex abuse dealt with yesterday, speculation now turns upon whether or not Benedict will renew his offer of succour in Rome for Anglican priests who cannot tolerate women being ordained.

That might seem apposite on the day Cardinal Newman is elevated: a man who famously crossed from Anglicanism to Rome.

Equally, to raise this deeply divisive in public here, when he did not do so in either Lambeth Palace or Westminster Abbey, really would be rolling Roman tanks onto Canterbury’s lawn.

And just before he leaves the country at around seven this evening? Possible – but don’t bet the farm upon it.