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Source: Reuters -
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Britain's Queen Elizabeth will host Pope Benedict at her
official residence in Scotland during his first visit to Britain in
September, the government said.
Benedict will meet the queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse in
Edinburgh, a baroque landmark that was the home of Mary Queen of
Scots, the Catholic monarch executed for treason in 1587 after
Elizabeth I signed her death warrant.
The four-day trip, from September 16 to 19, will be the first papal
visit since Pope John Paul II's pastoral visit in 1982 and is the
first official papal visit to Britain.
Benedict will also meet the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan
Williams, spiritual head of the world's 77 million Anglicans, and
will hold a public mass in Glasgow and a prayer vigil in
London.
A Vatican initiative to welcome conservative Anglicans who want to
convert to Catholicism has been criticised by some Anglicans who
see the move as an attempt to capitalise on deep divisions in
Anglicanism.
Relations between Christian churches and major faiths will be a
theme of the visit, the British government said.
"The papal visit represents an unprecedented opportunity to
strengthen ties between the UK and the Holy See on action to tackle
poverty and climate change as well as the important role of faith
in creating strong and cohesive communities," said Scotland
Secretary Jim Murphy, who is leading the preparations for the
visit.
The cost of the state side of the visit will be around $31.7
million.
The Catholic Bishops' Conferences of Scotland, England and Wales
will contribute to the cost.
During his trip, Benedict will perform the beatification - a step
on the path to sainthood - of 19th century theologian and
educationalist Cardinal John Henry Newman, at a public mass in
Coventry, central England.
Newman, who lived from 1801 to 1890, was one of the most prominent
English converts from Anglicanism to Catholicism and was a key
figure in the Oxford Movement, which tried to move the Church of
England closer to Rome.
Coventry's cathedral was destroyed by German bombing during World
War II and the ruins still stand next to the modern church which
replaced it.
