Queen Elizabeth's Pope plans

Apr 13, 2010, 12:23 GMT

Britain's Queen Elizabeth has become embroiled in a plan to arrest Pope Benedict XVI.

Campaigners want to arrest the head of the Catholic Church when he visits the UK in September for his role in the cover-up of child abuse allegations.

The pontiff is set to meet the queen as part of the planned trip, because of her status as the head of the Church of England.

The Pope has come under pressure in recent weeks after the disclosure of a letter in which he appeared to sanction the cover up of child abuse by an American priest.

Although a state leader on an official visit to a country is immune from arrest, lawyers are planning to claim the Vatican - where the Pope resides - is not an official state.

Mark Stephens, lawyer for atheist campaigners Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, told the Times newspaper: "The Vatican is not actually a state in international law. It is not recognised by the United Nations, it does not have borders that are policed and its relations are not of a full diplomatic nature."

However, Dawkins - the author of 'God Is Not Great'- says the Pope should not believe he is outside the law.

He said: "The institutionalised concealment of child rape is a crime under any law and demands not private ceremonies of repentance or church-funded payoffs, but justice and punishment."