On the third day of 4-day trip to England and Scotland -- Yom Kippur in the Jewish calendar, the Day of Atonement -- Benedict, unexpectedly, spent more than half an hour with several victims of sexual abuse. He also delivered moving talks on the Eucharist, and on Blessed John Henry Newman. The trip seems to be going much better than nearly everyone anticipated...
By Robert Moynihan=====================================
The Pope in England, September 18, 2010
Day #3 of the Visit to Scotland and England
(Photo, the Pope celebrating Mass this morning at Westminster Cathedral, with his Master of Ceremonies, Monsignor Guido Marini, behind him)
The Pope's visit to England is well past its halfway point, looking now toward the beatification tomorrow in Birmingham of John Henry Cardinal Newman, and it seems to be going much better than almost anyone anticipated.
There are several pieces of evidence.
First, the crowds protesting the visit have been smaller than predicted, no more than 20,000 in total, while the prayer service this evening in Hyde Park attracted at least 80,000 people.
Second, despite months of tensions between Rome and Canterbury, there were yesterday evening very respectful remarks made toward the Pope by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Rowan Williams, head of the Church of England.
Third, the Pope today -- on the Feast of Atonement on the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur -- held a dramatic, unscheduled meeting with several victims of clerical sexual abuse, making clear his sorrow that such crimes have occurred, and his commitment to see that everything possible is done so that they do not occur in the future.
In this way, the Pope has acted to de-fuse the allegations, amplified by the media, that he has not done enough to prevent or punish sexually abusive clerics.
Moreover, throughout the trip, the Pope's quiet remarks have been both eloquent and profound, and have moved many who have listened to him.
For these reasons, the papal visit is turning into much more of a quiet success than most media pundits predicted. The trip has not been physically disrupted, the Pope has been treated respectfully, and his fundamental message of Christian faith in a fallen world seems to be falling on open ears.
Here below are the main texts of yesterday evening and today, prefaced by brief introductory comments on the key passages.
All the texts are well worth reading in their entirety, but if the sheer amount of material seems too great, try to read at least the brief summaries to get the central points the Pope is making.
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Friday Vespers (Yesterday): The Archbishop and the Pope of Rome
Williams speaks about "the Servant of the Servants of God"
Yesterday evening, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the head of the Church of England, Dr. Rowan Williams, gave a dramatic reflection on the meaning the Pope's role and mission in the universal Church.
(Photo: the Pope with Dr. Williams yesterday evening)
Some who listened thought the Archbishop was extending an olive branch to the Pope, after months in which there have been public tensions between Rome and Canterbury.
The key passage in Dr Rowan's remarks was this:
"Christians have very diverse views about the nature of the vocation that belongs to the See of Rome. Yet, as Your Holiness’s great predecessor [Pope John Paul II] reminded us all in his encyclical Ut Unum Sint, we must learn to reflect together on how the historic ministry of the Roman Church and its chief pastor may speak to the Church catholic—East and West, global north and global south—of the authority of Christ and his apostles to build up the Body in love; how it may be realized as a ministry of patience and reverence towards all, a ministry of creative love and self-giving that leads us all into the same path of seeking not our own comfort or profit but the good of the entire human community and the glory of God the creator and redeemer."
Of course, Williams is not saying here that he and his fellow Anglicans will recognize without qualification Bishop of Rome's ministry as the head of the Christian Church.
But, when Williams says that "we must learn to reflect together how the historic ministry of the Roman church and its chief pastor... may be realized as a ministry of patience and reverence towards all," he is clearly linking the two concepts of "the Roman church and its chief pastor" (that is, the Pope) and "a ministry... towards all" (that is, a universal ministry).
The implicit suggestion is that, for Williams, there is, in fact, a mission "towards all" which must be carried out by "the Roman church and its chief pastor."
For some, this moment in the papal visit was the most remarkable thus far.
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