In his first remarks after his recent state visit to Britain, Pope Benedict XVI says that the country's Christian faith remains very strong.
During his four day visit, the first state visit by a Pope to Britain, Benedict XVI made unprecented visits to Lambeth Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall, all bastions of the Church of England, which is a Protestant faith. During his visit he met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, a meeting which will hopefully go some way to repairing the chasm that has developed between Protestantism and Catholicm in Britain which, in years gone by, has resulted in civil warfare and the executions of thousands of innocents.
During his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican City, the world's smallest country, the Pope hailed Britain as a "noble country" and said "I had the great pleasure of speaking to the heart of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and they spoke to my heart, most particularly with their presence and the testimony of their faith."
He also said that his visit marked a new phase in the Vatican’s “complicated” relations with the Church of England.
England broke with Rome in 1534 when King Henry VIII had complications getting a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon. During his row with the Pope, Henry hoped that his counsellor, Sir Thomas More, would support him, but Henry was to be disappointed. Not getting his way, Henry broke England free from Rome and made himself the Head of the Church of England, which would become known as a Protestant church (protesting against the Pope). But More would not recognise Henry as the Head of England's church, and so he was beheaded for treason in 1535. He is now viewed as a Catholic maryr.
And when the Pope made his historic address to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Houses of Parliament, he did so in the very building where More was tried and condemned.
On Sunday he led a ceremony in Birmingham's Cofton Park to beatify the 19th century British cardinal John Henry Newman, in which he made a speech in which he mentioned the horrors of Germany's bombing of nearby Coventry. Tellingly, the Pope, a former member of the Hitler Youth, did not mention Britain's later bombing of Germany. He also praised Britain's fight against Nazism.
A Pope saying nice things about Britain. It really is sensational.
Pope Benedict XVI says Christian faith remains strong in Britain
By Nick Squires in Rome
22 Sep 2010
The Telegraph
Crowds of onlookers take photographs as Pope Benedict XVI travels along the Mall Photo: GETTY
Britain remains a country in which Christian faith is “still strong and active at every level of society”, Pope Benedict XVI said in his first remarks after returning from his historic four-day visit to England and Scotland.
The Popesaid the visit, which was widely judged a success despite being preceded by months of controversy over cost, clerical sex abuse scandals and the issue of gay and married clergy, marked a new phase in the Vatican’s “complicated” relations with the Church of England.
"This was a historic event marking a new and important phase in the long and complicated history of relations between (the British) and the Holy See," he said during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square, after flying into Rome by helicopter from his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, in the hills outside the capital.
"In the course of the intense and very beautiful four days spent in this noble country, I had the great pleasure of speaking to the heart of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and they spoke to my heart, most particularly with their presence and the testimony of their faith," he said.
"I witnessed how the Christian faith is still strong and active at every level of society," he said.
Benedict, the first pope to make a state visit to Britain since the schism between the faiths under Henry VIII in 1534, recalled celebrating Mass “against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset at Bellahouston Park” in Glasgow.
He said his meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at Lambeth Palace in London was “very cordial and fraternal”.
He was honoured to be given the “unprecedented opportunity” to address both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall.
The German-born Pope gave thanks for “the many blessings God has bestowed upon our efforts to re-knit the fabric of our Christian fellowship”.
His five year papacy has been marked by concerted attempts to bring back into full communion with Rome, the Anglican Church, Orthodox Christians and Catholic ultra-traditionalists, sometimes in ways that have antagonised the other denominations.
telegraph.co.uk
During his four day visit, the first state visit by a Pope to Britain, Benedict XVI made unprecented visits to Lambeth Palace, Westminster Abbey and Westminster Hall, all bastions of the Church of England, which is a Protestant faith. During his visit he met the Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, a meeting which will hopefully go some way to repairing the chasm that has developed between Protestantism and Catholicm in Britain which, in years gone by, has resulted in civil warfare and the executions of thousands of innocents.
During his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square in the Vatican City, the world's smallest country, the Pope hailed Britain as a "noble country" and said "I had the great pleasure of speaking to the heart of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and they spoke to my heart, most particularly with their presence and the testimony of their faith."
He also said that his visit marked a new phase in the Vatican’s “complicated” relations with the Church of England.
England broke with Rome in 1534 when King Henry VIII had complications getting a divorce from his first wife Catherine of Aragon. During his row with the Pope, Henry hoped that his counsellor, Sir Thomas More, would support him, but Henry was to be disappointed. Not getting his way, Henry broke England free from Rome and made himself the Head of the Church of England, which would become known as a Protestant church (protesting against the Pope). But More would not recognise Henry as the Head of England's church, and so he was beheaded for treason in 1535. He is now viewed as a Catholic maryr.
And when the Pope made his historic address to both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall, the oldest part of the Houses of Parliament, he did so in the very building where More was tried and condemned.
On Sunday he led a ceremony in Birmingham's Cofton Park to beatify the 19th century British cardinal John Henry Newman, in which he made a speech in which he mentioned the horrors of Germany's bombing of nearby Coventry. Tellingly, the Pope, a former member of the Hitler Youth, did not mention Britain's later bombing of Germany. He also praised Britain's fight against Nazism.
A Pope saying nice things about Britain. It really is sensational.
Pope Benedict XVI says Christian faith remains strong in Britain
By Nick Squires in Rome
22 Sep 2010
The Telegraph
Crowds of onlookers take photographs as Pope Benedict XVI travels along the Mall Photo: GETTY
Britain remains a country in which Christian faith is “still strong and active at every level of society”, Pope Benedict XVI said in his first remarks after returning from his historic four-day visit to England and Scotland.
The Popesaid the visit, which was widely judged a success despite being preceded by months of controversy over cost, clerical sex abuse scandals and the issue of gay and married clergy, marked a new phase in the Vatican’s “complicated” relations with the Church of England.
"This was a historic event marking a new and important phase in the long and complicated history of relations between (the British) and the Holy See," he said during his weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square, after flying into Rome by helicopter from his summer residence at Castel Gandolfo, in the hills outside the capital.
"In the course of the intense and very beautiful four days spent in this noble country, I had the great pleasure of speaking to the heart of the inhabitants of the United Kingdom and they spoke to my heart, most particularly with their presence and the testimony of their faith," he said.
"I witnessed how the Christian faith is still strong and active at every level of society," he said.
Benedict, the first pope to make a state visit to Britain since the schism between the faiths under Henry VIII in 1534, recalled celebrating Mass “against the backdrop of a beautiful sunset at Bellahouston Park” in Glasgow.
He said his meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, at Lambeth Palace in London was “very cordial and fraternal”.
He was honoured to be given the “unprecedented opportunity” to address both Houses of Parliament in Westminster Hall.
The German-born Pope gave thanks for “the many blessings God has bestowed upon our efforts to re-knit the fabric of our Christian fellowship”.
His five year papacy has been marked by concerted attempts to bring back into full communion with Rome, the Anglican Church, Orthodox Christians and Catholic ultra-traditionalists, sometimes in ways that have antagonised the other denominations.
telegraph.co.uk