UK's Chief Rabbi: 'My meeting
with the Pope was an epiphany’
By Rupert de Lisle
18 October 2010
Pope Benedict XVI and Lord Sacks at a meeting of religious leaders at St Mary's University, Twickenham, last month.
Lord Sacks, Britain’s Chief Rabbi, has described his meeting with Pope Benedict XVI during his visit last month as “an epiphany”.
The Chief Rabbi met the Pope at a meeting with religious leaders and people of faith at Twickenham. The meeting involved the leaders of all the major faiths in Britain.
His account of the meeting is included in the official record of the state visit, published last week by the Catholic Truth Society.
In it, Lord Sacks said: “Soul touched soul across the boundaries of faith, and there was a blessed moment of healing”.
The Chief Rabbi added that the Pope “valued” the Catholic-Jewish relationship and that “he wanted the work to continue and deepen [it]”.
Lord Sacks, whose full title is Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, said that welcoming the Pope on behalf of non-Christians in Britain was “a moment I shall never forget”.
He added that the meeting illustrated the Vatican’s emphasis on the “importance of respect and friendship between faiths”.
The meeting was of particular significance, he said, because of the “tear-stained history of the Catholic-Jewish relationship”.
He said: “Over the centuries, the relationship between the Church and the Jews has been one of the saddest stories in the history of religion” – and one, he said, that “might have continued were it not for the darkest night of all, the Holocaust”.
He also praised mid-20th century Pope John XXIII, a “very great Pope indeed”, for having laid the foundation for the Second Vatican Council, “one of the greatest acts of reconciliation in religious history”.
OFFICIAL RECORD
OF THE UK VISIT
As earlier posted several days ago, the official record of the state visit,
Benedict XVI and Blessed John Henry Newman, costs £14.95 (about $24) and is available from
www.cts-online.org.uk/acatalog/info_DO837.html
CTS provides the following sample pages online:
National Secular Society grossly exaggerated
cost of Pope’s visit to taxpayers -
their own site now says it cost half what they said
October 19th, 2010
In February 2010 Terry Sanderson, President of the National Secular Society, falsely stated that Pope Benedict’s visit would cost tax payers £20 million.
However, on Friday 15 Oct the National Secular Society posted on their website that the cost of the papal visit to the taxpayer, excluding the cost of policing, was 50% less, at £10 million.
In September 2010 the police estimated that policing the papal visit would cost between £1-1.5 million.
So the cost to the taxpayer comes out at £11.5 million, and not Terry Sanderson’s scaremongering figure of £20 million.
The Catholic Church is expected to contribute at least £7 million to cover the cost of the Pope’s visit, on top of the taxes contributed by the UK’s 5 million Catholics.
Why did Terry Sanderson grossly exaggerate the figure? Was he poorly advised? Maybe he’s not good with figures? Terry does have a tendency to inflate figures, like he inflated the numbers attending the protest march from 5,000-8,000 (police estimate) to 20,000.
Or could it be that he’s an anti-Catholic who would do anything to attack Pope Benedict and the Catholic Church?
Pope's visit was a boon
for National Express buses
Oct. 19, 2010
Transport group National Express has said revenues at its coach division were boosted by the Pope’s visit to Britain.
The company, which also operates bus and rail services, ran 1,000 coaches to Birmingham from across the UK for pilgrims to see Pope Benedict XVI last month.
The group said coach revenues in the three months to September 30 increased 4% year-on-year, compared to a 2% rise in the first half.
The transport group said a restructuring in its bus network, which operates mainly in the West Midlands, had added £5 million to year-on-year operating profits.
Quieter routes have been cut back, while busier runs have had services added.
Passengers paid more for a multi-trip travelcard in the third quarter, but the company held its single journey fare, which improved its passenger per mile revenue by 5%.
Jez Maiden, group finance director at National Express, said the company would continue to focus on operational improvements to achieve growth.
But Mr Maiden said the company will be in a position to eye up potential areas of expansion in Europe and North American in about 12 months’ time.
The firm said profitability at its British rail business continued to grow on the back of a 7% rise in third-quarter underlying revenue.
National Express said its Spanish coach business Alsa was performing well, despite the subdued economic climate, while its North American arm returned to revenue growth following the introduction of 1,600 new routes.
[Modificato da TERESA BENEDETTA 19/10/2010 23:18]