Six arrested in alleged plot to attack Pope

Police in London have arrested five men who were reportedly planning to attack the Pope during his ongoing visit to the U.K.

Pope Benedict XVI’s state visit to the U.K. will go ahead as planned, despite reports this morning that he was the target of a terrorist plot broken up by police. Police will not confirm that the five men they arrested on terrorist charges today were intending to attack the Pope, but British media outlets are reporting that is indeed the case. A sixth man was arrested later in the day. Businesses and residences associated with the men, aged 26 to 50, are being searched, but so far no hazardous materials have been uncovered. The Pope arrived in the country yesterday, and his visit has been marked by controversy and protests. Anti-Catholic sentiment is running high in Britain in reaction to the church’s widening sex abuse scandal.