THE Vatican newspaper L'Osservators Romano came to the defence of Pope John Paul H last week, supporting his controversial blessing of the giant new Basilica of Our Lady of Peace in the Ivory Coast, the largest church in the world and 70 feet taller than St Peter's in Rome.
In the front page editorial, the newspaper said the poor would of the "privileged guests" the £100 million church, built by the Ivory Coast's ageing president Felix Houphouet-Boigny supposedly from his personal fortune, in his home town of Yamoussoukro. The Pope blessed the basilica at a ceremony on September 110 during his latest four nation tour of Africa.
