BENEDICT XVI: NEWS, PAPAL TEXTS, PHOTOS AND COMMENTARY

Pope confirms he will visit Britain

Pope Benedict XVI said this today at the start of his address to the bishops of England and Wales who have been on ad limina visit:

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On the occasion of my forthcoming Apostolic Visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself and, as Successor of Peter, to strengthen and confirm it.

During the months of preparation that lie ahead, be sure to encourage the Catholics of England and Wales in their devotion, and assure them that the Pope constantly remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart.

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Pope Benedict XVI confirms
first state visit to UK
by Ruth Gledhill, Religion Correspondent

February 1, 2010


The Pope has today confirmed that he will be visiting Britain later this year, the first state visit to this country by the worldwide head of the Roman Catholic Church.

At the same time, Pope Benedict XVI has for the first time attacked Britain's move towards equal rights in its secular democracy, claiming that equality legislation threatens religious freedom.

In a letter [How can Gledhill commit this error? It was not a letter - it was an address he made directly to the bishops! ] today to the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, the Pope says: "Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed."

[Trust Gledhill to go for the jugular and cite a potential flashpoint in the address, instead of first quoting the part where the Pope announces his visit, since that is the lead of her story.]

His criticisms will generate controversy and could lead to protests by secularists and gay rights campaigners during his visit.
['Could lead'? Even without her inflammatory intro, it will certainly help fuel protests which I am sure are being planned already for various reason!]

The Queen has, in the last few days, issued the formal invitation to the Pope to visit for four days in mid-September. The visit will start in Scotland and take place in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Birmingham and London, where the Pope will deliver an historic address in Westminster Hall, Parliament.

It will be the first state visit by a Pope to Britain, as that of his predecessor Pope John Paul II in 1982 was a pastoral visit only.

The only departure from normal protocol around formal visits by heads of state will be that the Pope, 83, will stay with the Papal Nuncio in Wimbledon rather than with the Queen in Buckingham Palace.

The invitation was issued amid growing speculation in Rome that the Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, regarded as the spiritual leader of five million Roman Catholics in England and Wales, is to be made a cardinal this year.

This would be unprecedented because normal practice is to have just one cardinal with voting rights in the College of Cardinals from England and Wales. The former Archbishop of Westminster Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor will retain his voting rights of the college, the body that will elect the next Pope, until his 80th birthday in 2012.

However, there is no formal rule stipulating that there can only be one Cardinal in England and Wales. There are also moves to raise the new Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan, whose predecessor Cardinal Edward Egan is the same age as Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, to be made a Cardinal along with Archbishop Nichols.

Although no final decision has yet been made, such a step would see the two most important Catholics archiepiscopal sees being recognised in a way that would enhance the significance of the mission of the two Archbishops on the national and the world stage.

Archbishop Nichols is at present on a five-yearly "ad limina" visit to Rome with the other Catholic bishops of England and Wales to make pilgrimage to the historic Catholic sites, meet the Pope and the head of the congregations to discuss local and international issues.

In his pastoral letter [Again, the objective error! The Pope may eventually issue the address as a pastoral letter - though I don't think that is a practice - but the statements Gledhill quotes are from his address today] issued to mark the ad limina visit today, Pope Benedict XVI said:

"Even amid the pressures of a secular age, there are many signs of living faith and devotion among the Catholics of England and Wales. I am thinking, for example, of the enthusiasm generated by the visit of the relics of Saint Thérèse, the interest aroused by the prospect of Cardinal Newman’s beatification, and the eagerness of young people to take part in pilgrimages and World Youth Days.

"On the occasion of my forthcoming Apostolic Visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself and, as Successor of Peter, to strengthen and confirm it. During the months of preparation that lie ahead, be sure to encourage the Catholics of England and Wales in their devotion, and assure them that the Pope constantly remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart."

After criticising equal rights legislation he continued:

"I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church’s moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others – on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth. Continue to insist upon your right to participate in national debate through respectful dialogue with other elements in society.

"In doing so, you are not only maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion, but you are actually giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them: when so many of the population claim to be Christian, how could anyone dispute the Gospel’s right to be heard?"

Archbishop Nichols, who as Archbishop of Birmingham successfully opposed moves to impose non-faith quotas on faith schools but was unsuccessful in his campaign to allow Catholic adoption societies to continue to discriminate against gay couples, is understood to have made a hugely favourable impression in Rome, increasing the likelihood of his becoming a Cardinal sooner rather than later.

His interventions in England and Wales on moral and political issues such as education and gay adoptions, where he has shown courage in espousing a conservative doctrine against the norms of liberal secularism, have also made him noticed in Rome.

The impression of an imaginative, spiritual and visionary leader will be confirmed in the next few days when he leads the Catholic bishops in his home country in issuing a pre-election document.

The document will not come down on the side of any political party but is expected to make a passionate case for the "social thought" of the Church to be uppermost in the minds of Catholics when casting their votes in May, while continuing the conservative doctrinal line espoused by Archbishop Nichols throughout his time in his previous post, Birmingham.

Eight out of the ten predecessors of Archbishop Nichols at Wesminster were made Cardinals at the first consistory after their appointments.

The College of Cardinals can have a maximum of 120 members and depending when a consistory takes place, there could be as many as seven vacancies if done this spring or summer.

Archbishop Nichols has also found favour with his diplomacy with the Church of England and the Queen, its Supreme Governor, in the face of the Pope's offer of an Anglican Ordinariate within the Catholic Church for disaffected High Church and former Anglicans.

At a meeting with Earl Peel, the Lord Chamberlain, Archbishop Nichols was able to reassure him that the decree was not an attempt to poach Anglicans but a response to a particular pastoral situation.

So far, the members of the Traditional Anglican Communion, former Anglicans based mainly in Australia, seem likely to be the first to take up the offer. Anglo-Catholic bishops and clergy in the Church of England, who are concerned about moves to ordain women bishops, are still considering their position.

In today's pastoral letter, the Pope said he believed the Anglicans who converted would be a "blessing for the entire church."


had this report:


LONDON, Feb. 1 (AFP) – Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed he is to visit Britain for the first time as Pontiff, a Vatican official said Monday.

During an address to Catholic bishops from England and Wales making a pilgrimage to Rome, the Pope spoke of the "living faith and devotion" of Catholics in Britain.

"On the occasion of my forthcoming apostolic visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself," he added in comments Monday quoted to AFP by Alexander Desforges, director of the Catholic Communications Network.

Pope Benedict said he hoped to help "strengthen and confirm" the Catholic faith in Britain.

Desforges said no dates had yet been set for the visit. But it is believed the Pontiff will come to Britain in September and will likely stay for several days.

"There are no dates at the moment. Discussions about the programme and the specific dates are ongoing," Desforges added.

Last year, Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy was quoted as saying ministers had drawn up an itinerary of public masses and ecumenical functions for a papal visit on September 16-19 this year.

Pope John Paul II was the last Pontiff to visit Britain, in 1982, and was received at Buckingham Palace by Queen Elizabeth II, who is the titular head of the Church of England. He was the first Pope to make the trip for 450 years. [The first Pope ever to visit there! It's not as if Popes had travelled there before the Church of England was established by Henry VIII to protest Vatican disapproval of his divorce and remarriage!]



I do not usually post repetitive news items, but on this occasion, a look at how the various UK MSM are reporting the Pope's address today gives an idea of their respective leanings:


Pope Benedict confirms
first papal UK visit since 1982

February 1, 3010

Pope Benedict XVI has confirmed he will visit the UK later this year.

The Pontiff spoke of the plan for his first apostolic visit in an address to Catholic bishops of England and Wales at the end of their pilgrimage to Rome.

The Pope is expected to visit Birmingham - as part of the planned beatification of Cardinal John Newman, and Scotland.

He has been formally invited by the prime minister. The last Pope to visit the UK was John Paul II in 1982.

No dates or official itinerary have yet been set for the visit but officials at the Vatican and in the UK told the BBC it was likely to take place in September. [Sept. 16-19 are the dates previously reported.]

Further details are expected early in March, a spokesman for the Catholic Communications Network said.

The Pope was formally invited to visit the UK by Prime Minister Gordon Brown last February. Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy also invited him to visit Scotland.

In the speech, published on the Vatican Radio website, Pope Benedict offered his "warmest good wishes and prayers" for the bishops and all the faithful entrusted to their care.

He urged them to warmly welcome disaffected Anglicans who wanted to join the Catholic Church.

Anglican Archbishop of York John Sentamu said the Pope would be "very welcome".

He told BBC News: "I've met him in Rome. We had wonderful conversations and whatever people may think about the ordinariate, they shouldn't use that as a reason for not accepting one of our great Christian leaders."

The Catholic Church has offered disaffected Anglicans the prospect of their own hierarchies - ordinariates - within the Catholic system, leading to predictions that whole congregations opposed to plans for women bishops might transfer from the Church of England.

During his speech, in an apparent reference to the Church of England's stance on issues such as gay adoption, the Pope urged the bishops to ensure that its moral teaching was always presented in its "entirety" and "convincingly defended".

He said: "Your country is well-known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society.

"Yet, as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs.

"In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed."

He also urged the bishops to continue to insist upon their right to participate in national debate through "respectful dialogue with other elements in society".

By doing so, the Pope said, they would be "maintaining long-standing British traditions of freedom of expression and honest exchange of opinion" as well as "giving voice to the convictions of many people who lack the means to express them".

The National Secular Society (NSS) said it would mount a protest campaign made up of gay groups, victims of clerical abuse, feminists, family planning organisations and pro-abortion groups among others.

President Terry Sanderson said: "The taxpayer in this country is going to be faced with a bill of some £20m for the visit of the Pope. [I don't know if there is any basis for that claim, but in any case, the BBC should have inserted a line in its report to state the relevant and correct fact.]

"A visit in which he has already indicated, he will attack equal rights and promote discrimination. [That is the sort of downright falsehood and calumny that anti-Church bigots indulge in! I'm afraid we must brace ourselves for that sort of garbage getting good play in the British media between now and the Pope's visit, during which it will all get as much coverage as the viisit itself!

"We have a petition online where people can make clear their opposition to the state funding of this visit. If the Catholic Church wishes its leader to come here, it should pay for the visit itself."

[You ignoramuses! Every government always has to foot some part of the bill for visits made by world leaders, if only because it is the local government's ressponsibility to insure their security. The local Church does pay its share for everything else, but it raises the money from Catholics.]


The Daily Telegraph at least saw fit to enlighten non-UK readers about the so-called Equality Bill and that Christian members of Parliament actually voted down a portion of it that has terrible implications for imposing certain practices on all religious institutions!


Pope Benedict XVI criticises
‘unjust’ effects of Equality Bill
By Martin Beckford, Religious Affairs Correspondent

February 1, 2010


Pope Benedict XVI has criticised Harriet Harman’s “unjust” Equality Bill for trying to prevent religious groups remain true to their beliefs.

The Pontiff claimed Labour’s flagship anti-discrimination legislation “actually violates” natural law, and suggested that it contravened “long-standing British traditions” of freedom of speech.

He also urged Roman Catholics in the UK to “speak with a united voice” in a secular and multicultural society, as he confirmed that he will make a historic state visit to the country later this year.

His comments come a week after Christian peers defeated the Government on a key part of the Equality Bill.

Existing exemptions for religious employment were set to be changed, and churches feared under the new rules they would have face prosecution unless they went against their beliefs by employing homosexuals and transsexuals. Catholics said the law could have forced them to admit women to the priesthood.

The controversial clause was dropped after a vote in the House of Lords although it is possible that the European Commission may now intervene to back the Government’s original plan.

In an address delivered on Monday to the 35 Catholic bishops from England and Wales who had made the five-yearly ad Limina pilgrimage to the tombs of the Apostles Peter and Paul in Rome, thePpope attacked the implications of the Equality Bill.

He said: “Your country is well known for its firm commitment to equality of opportunity for all members of society. Yet as you have rightly pointed out, the effect of some of the legislation designed to achieve this goal has been to impose unjust limitations on the freedom of religious communities to act in accordance with their beliefs. In some respects it actually violates the natural law upon which the equality of all human beings is grounded and by which it is guaranteed.

“I urge you as Pastors to ensure that the Church’s moral teaching be always presented in its entirety and convincingly defended. Fidelity to the Gospel in no way restricts the freedom of others - on the contrary, it serves their freedom by offering them the truth...."

The Pope said despite the “pressures of a secular age” there were signs of “living faith and devotion” in Britain, such as the fact that an estimated 286,000 people queued up to see the relics of a 19th century saint, St Thérèse of Lisieux, last year.

“On the occasion of my forthcoming Apostolic Visit to Great Britain, I shall be able to witness that faith for myself and, as Successor of Peter, to strengthen and confirm it.

“During the months of preparation that lie ahead, be sure to encourage the Catholics of England and Wales in their devotion, and assure them that the Pope constantly remembers them in his prayers and holds them in his heart.”

Benedict XVI is expected to come to England and Scotland between September 16th and 19th, in only the second papal trip to Britain since the Reformation and the first ever state visit. It will culminate in his beatification of Cardinal Newman, the Victorian convert whom he praised on Monday as an “outstanding example of faithfulness to revealed truth”.

The Pope also told the bishops to “assist” disaffected members of the Church of England convert to Rome, under the terms of the unprecedented offer made last year.

The Apostolic Constitution will allow those who oppose the liberal direction of Anglicanism into full communion with the Catholic church while retaining some of their spiritual heritage.

“I am convinced that, if given a warm and open-hearted welcome, such groups will be a blessing for the entire Church.”