United Kingdom : What is the programme for the papal visit?
The Westminster Hall, in London.
On 16 September, the first day of his journey, the Pope will go to the Palace of Holyrood House in Edinburgh, Scotland, where he will be received by Her Majesty the Queen, and also head of the Church of England. After this unprecedented meeting, Benedict XVI will travel to Scotland’s largest city, Glasgow, forty-five miles from Edinburgh. Like John Paul II on 1 June 1982, Benedict XVI will celebrate an open-air Mass in Glasgow’s vast Bellahouston Park.
That evening, the Holy Father will fly to London. During his stay there, he will meet representatives from the world of politics, culture, and business at Westminster Hall, the oldest part (end of the eleventh century) of Westminster Palace, by the Thames. It was at Westminster Hall that Sir Thomas More (1478-1535) denied that the king was the legitimate head of the Church in England. He was then condemned to death for his fidelity to the pope. Nowadays this grand hall is used when the two chambers of the British Parliament meet in joint-session.
At London, Benedict XVI will also participate in an ecumenical celebration at Westminster Abbey, the burial place of many of the kings and queens of England. The Pope will celebrate a Mass in the Catholic Westminster Cathedral and will lead a prayer vigil in Hyde Park. During his stay in London, the Pope will meet with the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Anglican Rowan Williams.
The final day of the visit the Pope will fly by helicopter a hundred miles north-west of London to Birmingham. In Crofton Park, the Pope will celebrate the beatification Mass of the English cardinal John Henry Newman (1801–1890), an Anglican who converted to Catholicism in 1845 (see DICI 215).
(Sources: thepapalvisit.co.uk; apic/imedia–DICI no. 220 of 6 Aug. 2010)
