Secular Czechs may oppose Pope Benedict

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Pope Benedict XVI, who arrived in the Czech Republic on Saturday, may face a daunting task convincing residents to forgo secularism, a religious leader says.

The Rev. Tomas Halik, a Roman Catholic leader in Prague, said many Czech residents are completely disinterested in the pope's three-day pilgrimage to their country as part of his fight against secularism, The New York Times reported.

"A majority of people have no interest in the pope's visit and are more concerned about traffic congestion," Halik said.

Jaroslav Plesl, a self-confessed lapsed Catholic in Prague, agreed Benedict will face an uphill struggle convincing secular Czech residents to support his cause.

"If the pope wants to create a religious revival in Europe, there is no worse place he could come to than the Czech Republic, where no one believes in anything," Plesl said. "Add to that the fact that the pope is German and socially conservative and he might as well be an alien here."

The Times said, according to the latest census in the Czech Republic, less than 3 million of the country's 10.5 million residents say they are Roman Catholics.