Pope Prepares for Summer of Rest with UK Visit on his Mind
(06 July 10 –RV) Wednesday afternoon, following his weekly general audience with
pilgrims, Pope Benedict XVI leaves on vacation. This year the Holy Father will spend
most of July and August at the Apostolic Palace of Castel Gandolfo. All private and
special audiences will be suspended during the Pope's holidays, including general
audiences normally held on Wednesdays. The next general audience after July 7 will
be held on August 4.
During this period of rest, Pope Benedict XVI will, however,
publicly recite the Angelus prayers on Sundays.
In September, shortly after
his return to the Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI will travel to the United Kingdom. Last
Friday , the Holy Father met with Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, England,
president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, accompanied by Cardinal
Keith Michael Patrick O'Brien of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, Scotland, president
of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, and by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, archbishop
emeritus of Westminster.
On Monday his official itinerary for the UK trip was
announced by Fr Federico Lombardi, Vatican Press Office Director: “Accepting the invitation
of Her Majesty Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, and of the Bishops' Conferences
of England and Wales, and of Scotland, His Holiness Benedict XVI will make an apostolic
trip to the United Kingdom from 16 to 19 September”.
Archbishop Vincent Nichols
spoke to us about his recent meeting with the Pope and the build up to this historic
visit:
“The papal visit which is a state visit begins with the Pope being welcomed
by the Her Majesty the Queen at Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh. Then he travels
on to Glasgow, where he will celebrate Mass with a large number of people in Bellahouston
Park. That evening on Thursday evening he flies down to London, and on Friday morning
goes to St Mary’s College in Twickeham. There he will meet with many youngsters from
Catholic schools and reflects on the role of the Church in education and the vision
of education as we want to promote in our world today. Then there is a meeting with
leaders from different sectors in civil society who are men and women of different
faith, so its an interfaith meeting. Friday evening he comes into central London
with three quite remarkable events. The first is a visit to the Archbishop of Canterbury
in Lambeth Palace; the second is a speech to leaders of the United Kingdom, in Westminster
Hall, which is probably one of the most important buildings in London. It has been
used since medieval times as a place for banquets and gatherings and indeed for trials,
St Thomas Moore was put on trial and actually condemned to death there. Then the
Pope will leave Westminster Hall and go to Westminster Abbey were there will be Evening
Prayer with all the different Christians from the UK assembled together and he and
the Archbishop of Canterbury will go and pray together at the tomb of St Edward the
Confessor, the great Saint who was an English monarch, who built the first Westminster
Abbey. Then on Saturday he comes to Westminster Cathedral, he meets the Prime Minister
and the leader of the opposition and the deputy Prime minster and celebrates Mass
here. Then on Saturday afternoon he visits a residential home for the care of the
elderly and then in the evening leads a vigil of prayer in Hyde Park. Then on Sunday
he goes to Birmingham to Cofton Park where he celebrates the beatification of Venerable
Cardinal John Henry Newman”.
Q: There have been some concerns that perhaps
Cofton and some of the other venues aren’t as big as Catholics there in Britain had
been hoping that it won’t be possible for all that many people to be able to actually
see the Pope in person on this trip, what can you say to that?
“There are
three large outdoor events, and in an age of safety regulations, security problems,
making sure that nothing can possibly go wrong, three major outdoor events in three
different locations in three days is a real challenge. Then there will be drives
that the Pope will make in the Popemobile through the centres of the cities, and that
will give a lot more people the chance to come out and to greet him and to show him
their support. Then we will have full live coverage on our website and we are also
producing a booklet with all of the liturgies that will the Pope will preside at,
so that people whether they are sitting in front of their televisions or in front
of giant screens in their parish community centres can pray together with the Pope,
following him word for word, while he is here”.
Q: Archbishop Nichols, what
can you tell us also about the costs of this visit, because there has been some debate
about rising costs, what the Church is paying and what the government is paying…
“With
the appointment of Lord Patten as the personal representative of the Prime Minister
and with is statements this morning it is perfectly clear that the British Government
is very supportive of this visit, totally committed to its success and ready to meet
its share of the costs. The Catholic community is likewise totally committed to this
visit. It is a state visit, every aspect of it is part of a state visit, but the
Catholic community will willingly and readily support those aspects of the visit which
are quite explicitly an expression of Catholic faith. So the liturgies, the moments
of prayer, those aspects of the visit will be entirely funded by the Catholic community.
The overarching costs, in some ways may seem rather a lot, but if you compare them
to cost of the G20 summit last summer which lasted for one day, this visit costs probably
about half of that one day G20 summit. So in terms of Britain’s standing in the world,
in terms of the UK’s presence on the world stage the cost of this visit are not considerable
at all”.