(Vatican Radio) The Dominican Republic’s top prosecutor, Francisco Dominguez Brito, met on Tuesday with his Vatican counterpart, Professor Gian Piero Milano to discuss the case against Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski, the Vatican’s former Apostolic Nuncio to the Dominican Republic. A statement released by the Vatican Press Office’s director, Father Federico Lombardi, said the meeting came as…
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(Vatican Radio) A special Mass takes place in the Rome Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls on Wednesday evening marking the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State is presiding at the celebration, which will also be…
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(Vatican Radio) A special Mass takes place in the Rome Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls on Wednesday evening marking the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State is presiding at the celebration, which will also be…
Read more
(Vatican Radio) A special Mass takes place in the Rome Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls on Wednesday evening marking the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican Secretary of State is presiding at the celebration, which will also be attended by many ecumenical guests and a high level British government delegation.
Leading that delegation is Foreign Office Minister of State, Baroness Anelay of St John’s who spoke to Philippa Hitchen about the relationship between her country and the Holy See today….
Listen:
Baroness Anelay says it’s a relationship that is very important for the British government to work together on many issues of common concern….in particular she speaks of the attack on religious freedom which Pope Francis addressed clearly on his visit to Turkey…she notes that she spoke recently at the launch of the Aid to the Church in Need report and heard how religious minorities are being targeted with a real risk of Christians being driven out of the Middle East…this is “a top human rights priority” for the British government, she says.
Speaking about the concerns of some religious communities in Britain who feel their freedom of conscience is being eroded, Baroness Anelay says the UK government looks carefully across all departments to make sure that legislation reflects religious freedom as core to everything it does….also she says religious literacy training has increased across all government departments….
On the difficult questions, such as the same-sex marriage legislation in the UK, she says Britain and the Holy See have “robust, intellectual disagreement on some issues”. She says the government listened very carefully to the arguements but adds we must reflect on the fact that society want to demonstrate equal opportunities for all, including those in same-sex relationships….it doesn’t undermine relations with the Holy See, she says, but makes us talk all the more
(from Vatican Radio)…
(Vatican Radio) Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin presides on Wednesday at a special Mass in the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls to mark the 100th anniversary of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the United Kingdom and the Holy See. The celebration, attended by many ecumenical guests and a high level British government delegation, comes 100 years after Sir Henry Howard was appointed to bring “the cordial congratulations of His Majesty the King on the occasion of his election” to Pope Benedict XV.
Amidst the outbreak of the First World War, the British government recognised that the Pope was “a ruler of wide influence” and the Foreign Secretary of the time, Sir Edward Grey, wanted to assure him that his government also “used every effort to maintain the peace of Europe”.
A century later, what are the common concerns between Britain and the Holy See? How important is this diplomatic relationship today? And what about those who still remain wary of Rome’s “interference” in English affairs? Philippa Hitchen put those questions to the Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin….
Listen:
Cardinal Parolin says it’s a very important anniversary because it’s important to dialogue and have channels of communication to deal together with the problems of the world today. Asked about those who remain wary of Rome’s “interference” in English affairs, he says with a smile that there are always those who’re afraid of the power of the Church. But he quotes from the Vatican II document Gaudium et Spes which clearly speaks of the Church and State as “two autonomous entities” which cooperate together for the good of the human person…..
Regarding controversial questions such as same-sex marriage legislation in Britain, the cardinal says diplomatic relations are not strained by these issues as they are simply a tool through which the two parties keep in touch. But the Holy See, he says, can express its concern about developments on moral issues and it’s important to listen to the voice of the local Church as well….
In the social sphere, the cardinal says there’s increased cooperation with governments including the UK which has shown interest in stepping up that cooperation. “We are also willing to continue and increase this cooperation” he says, particularly in areas of conflict prevention and resolution, in the defence of human rights and in the fight against poverty….
Asked about the high level of Euro-scepticism in Britain today, Cardinal Parolin says it’s not easy to convince people but the Pope’s visit to Strasbourg conveyed the simple message of the importance of the European project, which has led to 60 years of peace and development. Secondly, he notes, the Pope also wanted to bring hope and encouragement especially to the younger generations and to assure them that by resolving some points of weakness it is possible to build a united Europe…
On the possibility of another papal visit to Britain, the cardinal said the Pope has many journeys already planned, to Asia this year, to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families, then he is thinking about Africa, so for the moment there’s nothing fixed for Britain, though he said he hopes it may one day be possible to build on the good results of Pope Benedict’s trip to the country.
(from Vatican Radio)…