UK Ambassador Highlights Significance of Events during Papal Visit

(August 07, 2010) The Holy Father's September visit "speaks of rapprochement", that is, cordial relations between the Vatican and the United Kingdom, explained the nation's ambassador to Holy See. Speaking to CNA, he said that the "principal symbolic moment" on the schedule of events, even for the state, is the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman in Birmingham. Mr. Francis Campbell, the U.K. ambassador to the Holy See, is employed by the Foreign Office, which, he explained, acts as a bridge between the British prime minister's office at Whitehall, the Holy See and its Nunciature. Campbell's office ensures that the government is up-to-date on the Holy See's positions on important issues, which at the moment includes providing advice for drafting speeches and developing themes for the pending trip. In the state's perspective, the September 16-19 appointment is "a visit to the Church and to wider society," observed the ambassador. "This is our oldest diplomatic relationship," he said, recalling that state-to-state relations go back to the year 1479 when the papal envoy was sent by the British monarchy. "It hasn't always been an easy relationship," he said, "and here is the Pope coming on a state visit as a guest of the Queen and there are some very poignant moments in that visit that speak of rapprochement, that don't say anything, but speak to it." Ambassador Campbell cited an example of this in Pope Benedict's speech to 1,800 members of civil society in Westminster Hall, "the very same Hall where Thomas More was condemned to death." Mr. Campbell said that Pope Benedict XVI will be the first Pope to enter Lambeth Palace and also Westminster Abbey, which formerly belonged to the Benedictines.