Breaking: Pope's visit to Sapienza U. cancelled due to protests!

Zadok in Rome reports:

It seems that as part of the protests, the Rector's offices were occupied by students today.One has to imagine that security concerns and the dignity of the Holy Father were the primary concern here. One suspects that many at the Sapienza University are ashamed what the actions of their colleagues have brought about.The Pope will, however, be sending the text of his proposed address to the Sapienza.

The report comes from Ansa.it (in Italian).

update: the AP has confirmed:

Pope Benedict XVI has canceled his visit to a Rome university following protests by professors and students, the Vatican said Tuesday.

"It was considered opportune to skip the event," the Vatican said in a statement about Benedict's planned visit and speech Thursday at La Sapienza, a public university.

Instead, the pope will send his speech to the university, the Vatican said.

AP full coverage here. Notable: "He said 63 instructors – out of a total of 4,500 – had signed the letter. He had said students would have been allowed to gather in a designated area Thursday during the pope's visit."

I'm guessing this visit was nixed due to security concerns. This AGI report quotes the Rector of the University saying that "Should there be tension, that will be due to infiltrations." Apparently there was some concern that non-students would show up and cause trouble. Earlier today, "About 100 students ... occupied a building at Rome's La Sapienza university", CWNews reported. Yahoo! News has a slideshow of related images.

Reuters reports that instead, the Pope will send the text of his address to the University.

I hope it opens with something along the lines of "Dear beloved blockheads..."

When this story broke, I had just finished writing this previous post on the same topic: "The ugly, ignorant face of anti-papism on display".

It's dissapointing to see these protesters "get their way" and prevent the Pope from visiting. They should really be ashamed of themselves, but I'm not holding my breath to see their actions condemned by tonight's media recounting of the situation. At any rate, if the Pope's safety was in jeopardy, that's another thing entirely.

But really, what does it say about the academic community in Italy if they can't even provide for the safety of one of the most staunch defenders of the free exercise of reason. Doesn't anyone remember Regensburg?!