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Don't reach for the Werther's Originals just yet. Despite what religious commentators may be saying in some of the mainstream media, the Rat from the Vat isn't any less guilty of his sins after a long weekend in Britain.

In this week's Sunday Times, Bryan Appleyard, wrote a high profile article on page 3 entitled "Is this God's rottweiler? No, he's a holy grandad". The article painted the picture of a cuddly old dear who, though was 'tough' at times, was ultimately the same as that endearing old codger who used to 'buy you the best bike' when you were young and whose true nature is 'really sweet'.

Stop the press! Don't insult my grandad. Don't compare him to the pope.

My grandad really was that good salt-of-the-earth person, who though he never bought me the best bike, always showed just how good natured humanity can be. Softly spoken and unassuming he lived, to the extent of my knowledge, a good honest life, and along with my grandmother helped raise a family and give to his community in a way the pope never has and never will.

In contrast, the pope is the man who as cardinal in 2001 was given the task of investigating abuse cases via his office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. You will be hard pressed to find a person that will disagree with the verdict that he has failed this duty then and still fails this duty now. He has still not apologised for his role or his failings in this atrocity and it took him until this week to acknowledge the failures of the church at large in this regard. Instead he prefers to deflect criticism by equating atheists to Nazis warning of "aggressive secularism" and going on record saying,

"Even in our own lifetime, we can recall how Britain and her leaders stood against a Nazi tyranny that wished to eradicate God from society and denied our common humanity to many, especially the Jews, who were thought unfit to live."

Ironically, it was Hitler who had the support several of the highest ranking Catholic clergy in Germany during his sinister reign. And it was the pope's own church that that waited until the 1960's (Vatican II), to issue the declaration 'Nostra Aetate', to partially repudiate the traditional belief in the collective Jewish guilt for the crucifixion. A prejudice that secularists never had to start with.

The author in the Sunday Times goes on to say that on this visit the British people 'quickly learnt to love the pope' and that the pope was a man whose image was transformed from being 'labelled evil and a scourge of gays'. In that vein, it was the pope himself who declared the Catholic church the bastion of freedom saying, "Let it [atheism] not obscure the Christian foundation that underpins its [Britain's] freedoms". Tell that to the women who will always be second class citizens in the Catholic church. Tell that to gays when the same pope declared in 2008 that saving humanity from homosexuality was just as important as saving the rainforest from destruction.

How can you be tolerant of the intolerant?

In the media in general, it is frequently claimed that atheists sit back and do not voice their concerns with the same passion as religious groups. It is said that there is no central dogma to unite them and as a result they can provide no credible ethical alternative to religious preachings. At the same time, atheists are accussed of 'aggressive extremism' and told to be tolerant of religions; and criticised for being reactionary. In effect, atheists are damned if the speak out and damned if they don't. In recent years, atheists have certainly become more vocal. Whilst the right of anyone to hold a belief as long as it does not infringe on the rights of others is accepted by all, that does not mean that the belief is free from criticism. Where religion comes into conflict with society itself on issues of equality, law and freedoms it will always met with fierce criticism - not just from atheists but anyone who believes in democratic society. To say "Why do you protest the pope, what has it got to do with you?" you are asking people to be tolerant of the intolerant, to let ridiculous claims go unchallenged.

In the meat of his article, Bryan Appleyard said two problems were faced by the pope's protesters. Firstly, given the historical significance of the pope's visit that 'few could seriously focus on condoms and atheism'. The second was that the pope 'won with grandad sweetness and charm' as he 'confronted the forces of secularism head-on'. Well, I never asked grandad about 'condoms and atheism' and to the best of my knowledge he never did face down the 'forces of secularism' with a light saber but I do know this - whenever somebody needed help he would help, whenever he needed to apologise he would say sorry and as long as their intentions were good and honest he let people get on with their own lives without criticism. In pope Benedict XVI, I do not see any of those values. In pope Benedict XVI, I see intolerance, hypocrisy and inhumanity. In pope Benedict XVI, I do not see grandad.

This article is an opinion piece.

• religion
• atheism
• catholicism
• pope