Date for Pope’s visit to Britain set says newspaper
-15/03/06
The Pope is set to visit
Date for Pope’s visit to Britain set says newspaper
-15/03/06
The Pope is set to visit the UK in September 2007, a national newspaper has suggested.
The report follows last week’s invitation to Pope Benedict XVI from president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, to come to Britain.
The Roman Catholic church in England and Wales however has today sought to play down the reports.
It would be only the second time that a pope has come to the UK since Henry VIII broke with Rome to set up the Church of England in 1534.
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A week ago the Catholic church released a statement announcing that it had formally invited the 78-year-old German pontiff to visit. “It is too soon to say either in what that visit might consist, or whether it would be feasible, given the Pope’s commitments and the many invitations he has already received from across the world,” it said.
“But the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, is keen that the Pope be aware of how delighted the British people would be should he feel able to accept.
“It is very unlikely that any papal visit would coincide with the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit in May 1982.”
A spokesman for the church refused to be drawn last night on whether the Pope had accepted the invitation. He told the Guardian: “If that information were to be announced, it would come from us.”
Although it is understood that the Vatican had not been due to accept or decline the invitation until the end of the month, a source told the Daily Mirror that preparation for the visit was already well under way. “The Vatican has already responded positively to the prospect of a UK visit,” the source told the paper. “A date has already been pencilled in, and finishing touches are being made to the long-awaited tour.”
Pope Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, became the first pontiff to make an official visit to the UK when he came at the end of May 1982. After touching down at Gatwick airport, the Pope celebrated mass at Westminster cathedral before seeing the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Over the next five days, he said mass to 80,000 people in Wembley stadium, and was welcomed by millions of Catholics as he travelled around England, Scotland and Wales.
Date for Pope’s visit to Britain set says newspaper
-15/03/06
The Pope is set to visit the UK in September 2007, a national newspaper has suggested.
The report follows last week’s invitation to Pope Benedict XVI from president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, to come to Britain.
The Roman Catholic church in England and Wales however has today sought to play down the reports.
It would be only the second time that a pope has come to the UK since Henry VIII broke with Rome to set up the Church of England in 1534.
Related Articles
A week ago the Catholic church released a statement announcing that it had formally invited the 78-year-old German pontiff to visit. “It is too soon to say either in what that visit might consist, or whether it would be feasible, given the Pope’s commitments and the many invitations he has already received from across the world,” it said.
“But the president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, is keen that the Pope be aware of how delighted the British people would be should he feel able to accept.
“It is very unlikely that any papal visit would coincide with the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s visit in May 1982.”
A spokesman for the church refused to be drawn last night on whether the Pope had accepted the invitation. He told the Guardian: “If that information were to be announced, it would come from us.”
Although it is understood that the Vatican had not been due to accept or decline the invitation until the end of the month, a source told the Daily Mirror that preparation for the visit was already well under way. “The Vatican has already responded positively to the prospect of a UK visit,” the source told the paper. “A date has already been pencilled in, and finishing touches are being made to the long-awaited tour.”
Pope Benedict’s predecessor, Pope John Paul II, became the first pontiff to make an official visit to the UK when he came at the end of May 1982. After touching down at Gatwick airport, the Pope celebrated mass at Westminster cathedral before seeing the Queen at Buckingham Palace. Over the next five days, he said mass to 80,000 people in Wembley stadium, and was welcomed by millions of Catholics as he travelled around England, Scotland and Wales.