Leaders pray for Pope to visit the region

Oct 31 2009 By Neil McKay, The Journal

A CONCERTED effort is being made to persuade Pope Benedict XVI to make what would be the first ever papal visit to the North East.

A top level consortium, spearheaded by the Bishop of Durham, has issued the invitation for the visit next year.

Following the visit to Durham University in March of Vatican representative and HM Ambassador to the Holy See, HE Francis Campbell, a partnership of university, Anglican and Catholic church representatives has invited Pope Benedict to present a major academic address in Durham Cathedral in the course of his September 2010 visit to Britain.

Although Pope John Paul II visited the United Kingdom in 1982 and came as far north as York, Benedict would be the first pope to visit the cradle of English Christianity if he accepted the invitation to the North East.

The invitation is being led by the Bishop of Durham, Dr Tom Wright.

But it has also been signed by Bishop Seamus Cunningham of the Catholic Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, the Chapter of Durham Cathedral, the Abbot of Ampleforth Abbey and the President of the Catholic seminary, Ushaw College.

Bishop Wright said: "Durham has in recent years become a major global centre for ecumenical work.

"And the close interlinking of cathedral and university means that Durham is well placed to host an event which is simultaneously academic and ecumenically spiritual." University vice-chancellor Professor Chris Higgins, added: "The strong academic and ecumenical background of this invitation means there is simply no more appropriate place in the country to host such an academic lecture than Durham.

"Leaders of the major churches of the region are working together, alongside scholars in Durham University’s department of theology and religion, which was recently confirmed as the leading UK research department in its field in the most recent government research assessment exercise."

The invitation to the pontiff has won political backing, with Prof Higgins having made personal representation to foreign secretary and South Shields MP David Miliband. Roberta Blackman-Woods, MP for the City of Durham, has also added her support, saying: "The possibility of a papal visit to Durham and to Durham Cathedral, a site of unparalleled beauty, would be of tremendous benefit to the North East. I’m sure that the people of Durham would feel great pride in welcoming Pope Benedict and the world’s media."

The invitation comes at a time of increased sensitivity between the Anglican and Roman Catholic worlds.

Last night, the Vatican said the pope will meet the Archbishop of Canterbury next month in their first encounter since the Catholic church moved to make it easier for disenchanted Anglicans to convert to Catholicism.

A Vatican spokesman said Archbishop Rowan Williams was due in Rome to honour a late cardinal who worked for Christian unity and will meet the pope on November 21 at the Vatican.