Pope’s possible visit to Britain

(Sept 25, 2009) Another possible visit by Pope Benedict XVI next year could be to Britain, even though the trip has not been officially announced by either side. The president of the bishops' conference of England and Wales, Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster said he is looking forward to the papal visit. "We are encouraged and pleased at the news which has emerged about the possible official visit of Pope Benedict XVI to the U.K. next year," Archbishop Nichols said in a statement posted on the diocesan webpage on Wednesday, after news outlets in the country were reporting that government sources revealed that an official Holy See announcement of the trip would come soon. Pope Benedict’s trip will be the first official papal visit to Britain since Pope John Paul II made a pastoral visit in 1982. News about the possible visit was mentioned Sept. 23 by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who was travelling to New York. Cardinal Keith O'Brien of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, president of the Scottish bishops said on Thursday he was delighted by the prospect of what could be the first state visit to Scotland by a reigning pope. The head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury, on a trip to Japan, assured that Anglicans throughout Britain would receive the Pope with great warmth and joy.