So says Brit blogger Damien Thompson:

I don’t know what to make of persistent reports that the organisers of the papal Mass at Bellahouston Park, Glasgow, have decided not decorate the altar with six candles. Can this really be true? Monsignor Guido Marini, the Pope’s Master of Ceremonies, usually goes to enormous trouble to ensure that the Holy Father’s wishes are implemented. I’m mystified. Are the organisers trying to appease the spirit of John Knox? Seriously: this rumour is doing the rounds, and – though a dispute about altar decoration may seem petty to non-Catholics – it’s damaging for the Scottish Church.

Also… I believe there will be 400 priests present at the Mass. That will be more than enough to distribute Holy Communion to even as many as 50,000 communicants. Church rules on this question are quite clear: lay people are to distribute the Sacrament only if there is a shortage of priests. So I’m assuming that there can be no truth in the rumour that Scottish parishes are being asked to provide “extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion” for Bellahouston. “Lay ministers are not a feature of papal Masses, and if they were suddenly to make an appearance here it would look like sleight of hand,” says my source. “It would enable the old liberals to say afterwards: well, the Pope was OK with it in Glasgow.”

Stay tuned.

Meantime, we’re gearing up for some extensive coverage of the trip at NET — but it seems a lot of people I’m bumping into aren’t even aware that his historic event is happening. When I’ve mentioned to people in the parish that I’m going to be working that weekend because of the papal trip, I usually hear one of two responses: “Oh? Where’s he going?” or “Is he coming here again?”