As the first personal ordinariate is erected and Father Andrew Burnham and Father John Broadhurst take up membership with Father Keith Newton as the Ordinary, I wish them and all who will come into communion with the See of Peter in this way all the very best. Fathers Burnham and Broadhurst I have met and I know that they will continue to work for the Cure of Souls, Continue reading “best wishes to Fathers Burnham, Newton, & Broadhurst”
I didn’t think that I would be posting quite as quickly after the last post – but reading what I have just read really makes me want to make sure others get to read what Fr Bernard Lynch said at a rally in London today. As someone living with HIV, Fr Lynch’s words somewhat grabbed hold of me. Fortunately, we can now live with HIV – it is no longer the death sentence it once was. Here is a wordle followed by the full text… Dear Holy Father, Welcome to the United Kingdom. I am one of your fellow priests … Continue reading ‘six hundred of the men who got sick and died were young and fellow Catholics’
Sadly, due to illness, I was unable to use the ticket that I had been granted to attend the Vigil in Hyde Park, but thanks to the wonders of the internet, I was able to lie, sit, and kneel at a friend’s house in East Belfast to watch. Afterwards, he remarked that what the Holy Father said was not that far away from what could be said in a Christadelphian exhortation. If this is how close we are together, then there really is hope for Christian unity. The text of the homily given by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to … Continue reading lead, kindly light… Pope Benedict XVI
The words of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the young people outside The Cathedral of the Most Precious Blood, Westminster, today. Thank you for your warm welcome! “Heart speaks unto heart” – cor ad cor loquitur – as you know, I chose these words so dear to Cardinal Newman as the theme of my visit. In these few moments that we are together, I wish to speak to you from my own heart, and I ask you to open your hearts to what I have to say. I ask each of you, first and foremost, to look into your … Continue reading We were made to receive love… also to give love. – Pope Benedict XVI
St Edward the Confessor, pray for us.
Dear friends in Christ,
I thank the Lord for this opportunity to join you, the representatives of the Christian confessions present in Great Britain, in this magnificent Abbey Church dedicated to Saint Peter, whose architecture and history speak so eloquently of our common heritage of faith. Here we cannot help but be reminded of how greatly the Christian faith shaped the unity and culture of Europe and the heart and spirit of the English people. Here too, we are forcibly reminded that what we share, in Christ, is greater than what continues to divide us.
I am grateful to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury for his kind greeting, and to the Dean and Chapter of this venerable Abbey for their cordial welcome. I thank the Lord for allowing me, as the Successor of Saint Peter in the See of Rome, to make this pilgrimage to the tomb of Saint Edward the Confessor. Edward, King of England, remains a model of Christian witness and an example of that true grandeur to which the Lord summons his disciples in the Scriptures we have just heard: the grandeur of a humility and obedience grounded in Christ’s own example (cf. Phil 2:6-8), the grandeur of a fidelity which does not hesitate to embrace the mystery of the Cross out of undying love for the divine Master and unfailing hope in his promises (cf. Mk 10:43-44).
This year, as we know, marks the hundredth anniversary of the modern ecumenical movement, which began with the Edinburgh Conference’s appeal for Christian unity as the prerequisite for a credible and convincing witness to the Gospel in our time. In commemorating this anniversary, we must give thanks for the remarkable progress made towards this noble goal through the efforts of committed Christians of every denomination. At the same time, however, we remain conscious of how much yet remains to be done. In a world marked by growing interdependence and solidarity, we are challenged to proclaim with renewed conviction the reality of our reconciliation and liberation in Christ, and to propose the truth of the Gospel as the key to an authentic and integral human development. In a society which has become increasingly indifferent or even hostile to the Christian message, we are all the more compelled to give a joyful and convincing account of the hope that is within us (cf. 1 Pet 3:15), and to present the Risen Lord as the response to the deepest questions and spiritual aspirations of the men and women of our time. Continue reading “we are forcibly reminded that what we share, in Christ, is greater than what continues to divide us – Pope Benedict XVI”
The text of the speech by His Holiness Pope Benedict ⅩⅥ, the Sovereign Pontiff, in Westminster Hall: Mr Speaker, Thank you for your words of welcome on behalf of this distinguished gathering. As I address you, I am conscious of the privilege afforded me to speak to the British people and their representatives in Westminster Hall, a building of unique significance in the civil and political history of the people of these islands. Allow me also to express my esteem for the Parliament which has existed on this site for centuries and which has had such a profound influence on the development of participative government among the … Continue reading Religion, in other words, is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation. – Pope Benedict ⅩⅥ
The letter referred to earlier this week has been published by the Guardian. Hurrah.
We welcome His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the UK as both head of state of the Holy See and as leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics and to the Catholic community of this country. We believe that his presence here comes at an urgent and pressing time, highlighting the trends in our country that serve only to denigrate human rights and human dignity. We support him wholeheartedly because in guarding the Deposit of Faith he: Continue reading “the pope’s mission to uphold human dignity – letters at the guardian”
Gyronny Herald 