Walking with Incas

The appearance of Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez singing Rule Britannia while dressed as an Inca chief has awakened people to the realization that there are increasing numbers of Incas in the UK - two or three million at the last census - and they do not always assimilate easily with the indigenous population.

An increasingly common sight on the streets of Britain.

Some people object to the Inca religion, the "religion of peace", because of its human sacrifices, although the more tolerant of us have learned to respect these cultural differences. It is a different matter with the radicalised Incas, who shout "Viracocha" - often on trains - before dragging away children for slaughter on a high mountain.

Peace-loving Incas such as Juan Diego will have none of this. "Of course, the Incan liturgies do require the occasional sacrifice, but for everyday "low" services, we tend to do non-human sacrifices - perhaps a teddy bear."

Some Incan priests slaughter a bear like this in the "Paddington" rite.

Pope Francis, as a fellow South American, is very sympathetic to the Incan religion, and has already had "constructive" meetings with the Incan Archbishop of Cusco, who has promised to slaughter a llama as a form of prayer for him.

Churches like this are starting to appear in our city centres.

So I hope that this little piece has helped to promote Christian/Incan tolerance, dialogue, walking together, and of course mercy.