Gordon Brown invites Pope Benedict XVI to visit UK during Vatican trip
Gordon Brown has invited Pope Benedict XVI to make the first papal visit to the UK for nearly 30 years.
The Prime Minister made the offer during a visit
on Thursday. Despite a Vatican spokesman saying there
were no plans for a visit, Downing Street insisted a trip is
now under active consideration.
Accompanied by his wife and children, Mr Brown flew to
Rome on Thursday for his third meeting with the Pontiff.
After what the Vatican called a "cordial" meeting,
Mr Brown told reporters in the Vatican City that he
had made the offer of a visit and it had been
well-received.
"He was very welcoming of the invitation," Mr Brown
said. The Pope would be "warmly welcomed" in all
parts of the UK, he said.
A Vatican spokesman initially appeared to cast
doubt on any visit by the Pontiff to Britain.
"For the moment, no travel by Benedict XVI to the
United Kingdom is scheduled or under consideration,
" Federico Lombardi, the spokesman, was quoted
as saying.
Despite that response, Downing Street was unabashed,
insisting that a papal visit remains a possibility either
later this year or early in 2010.
"There isn't a date in the diary – we just made the
invitation a few hours ago. But they are definitely
looking at it," said a No 10 source.
Mr Brown invited the Pope to visit to mark the
beatification of John Henry Newman, the most
celebrated Anglican convert to Roman Catholicism.
Cardinal Newman founded the high-church
Oxford Movement before his conversion and
died in 1890.
The current Pope is said to have a particular interest
in his history and to be pushing for the cardinal to
be set on the path to sainthood.
The last Pope to visit Britain was Benedict's
predecessor, John Paul II, who became the first
pontiff ever to visit Canterbury Cathedral where
he met Robert Runcie, the then Archbishop of
Canterbury. He was also welcomed by the Queen
at Buckingham Palace.
Mr Brown is a member of the Church of Scotland
and his father was a minister in the kirk. He has
developed what aides say is a good relationship
with the Pope, who he met twice while he was
Chancellor.
A trip by Benedict XVII may also help soothe
Labour's relations with the Church, which have
come under some strain recently.
Last year Mr Brown faced down a rebellion
from Catholic Labour MPs and ministers to
push through the Government's Human
Fertilisation and Embryology Act, which allows
hybrid embryos used for medical research.
The law was strongly opposed by Catholic
leaders in the UK, and several Cabinet ministers
raised concerns over the Bill, including Des
Browne, the then Defence Secretary, Paul Murphy,
the Welsh Secretary and Ruth Kelly, the then
Transport Secretary.
Miss Kelly, a member Catholic group Opus Dei,
resigned from the Cabinet in September citing
personal reasons.
Britain has never had a Catholic prime minister,
although Mr Brown's predecessor, Tony Blair,
converted soon after he left Downing Street in
June 2007.
No comments:
Post a Comment