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   ECUMENICAL VESPERS IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY   
      
   VATICAN CITY, 17 SEP 2010 (VIS) - At 7 p.m. today the Pope arrived at   
   Westminster Abbey in London where he participated in an ecumenical celebration   
   of Vespers. Since 1066, the abbey has been the traditional site of the   
   coronation and burial of British monarchs.   
      
   The abbey, the full name of which is the Collegiate Church of St. Peter at   
   Westminster, was probably built in the eighth century. In 960 it became a   
   Benedictine monastery. It grew thanks to the patronage of King Edgar and   
   especially of King Edward the Confessor, and continued to flourish until 1534   
   when, with the Act of Supremacy, King Henry VIII sanctioned the separation of   
   the Church of England from the Catholic Church , dissolving the Catholic   
   monasteries and confiscating their property.   
      
   The abbey became the Anglican cathedral of the diocese of Westminster and later   
   the second cathedral of the diocese of London, but to this day it remains under   
   the direct jurisdiction of the British monarch. Along the sides of the   
   transept, to the right and left of the main altar, are the graves of various   
   illustrious historical figures, some of them saints. Poet's Corner contains the   
   tombs and memorial plaques of great English literary figures while behind the   
   main altar are the royal chapels containing around a hundred tombs, many of   
   British monarchs.   
      
   Benedict XVI, accompanied by Anglican Archbishop Rowan Williams of Canterbury,   
   and Catholic Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster, was received by John   
   Hall, dean of the abbey, who introduced him to the chapter. Together they   
   visited the tomb of the Unknown Soldier and pronounced a brief prayer for peace   
   to mark the seventieth anniversary of the Battle of Britain. The Pope was then   
   introduced to a number of religious leaders in the abbey's St. George's Chapel.   
      
   The Holy Father, accompanied by the archbishop of Canterbury, then made his way   
   to the altar of the coronation where, having listened to the greetings of the   
   archbishop and the dean, he pronounced some brief words.   
      
   "I thank you for your gracious welcome", he said. "This noble edifice evokes   
   England's long history, so deeply marked by the preaching of the Gospel and the   
   Christian culture to which it gave birth. I come here today as a pilgrim from   
   Rome, to pray before the tomb of St. Edward the Confessor and to join you in   
   imploring the gift of Christian unity. May these moments of prayer and   
   friendship confirm us in love for Jesus Christ, our Lord and Saviour, and in   
   common witness to the enduring power of the Gospel to illumine the future of   
   this great nation".   
      
   After praying Vespers, Benedict XVI delivered his address.   
      
   "I thank the Lord for this opportunity to join you, the representatives of the   
   Christian confessions present in Great Britain, in this magnificent abbey   
   church dedicated to St. Peter, whose architecture and history speak so   
   eloquently of our common heritage of faith. Here we cannot help but be reminded   
   of how greatly the Christian faith shaped the unity and culture of Europe and   
   the heart and spirit of the English people. Here too, we are forcibly reminded   
   that what we share, in Christ, is greater than what continues to divide us".   
      
   The Holy Father recalled how this year marks the centenary of the modern   
   ecumenical movement which "began with the Edinburgh Conference's appeal for   
   Christian unity as the prerequisite for a credible and convincing witness to   
   the Gospel in our time. In commemorating this anniversary, we must give thanks   
   for the remarkable progress made towards this noble goal through the efforts of   
   committed Christians of every denomination. At the same time, however, we   
   remain conscious of how much yet remains to be done. In a world marked by   
   growing interdependence and solidarity, we are challenged to proclaim with   
   renewed conviction the reality of our reconciliation and liberation in Christ,   
   and to propose the truth of the Gospel as the key to authentic and integral   
   human development".   
      
   "Our commitment to Christian unity is born of nothing less than our faith in   
   Christ. ... It is the reality of Christ's person, His saving work and above all   
   the historical fact of His resurrection, which is the content of the apostolic   
   'kerygma' and those credal formulas which, beginning in the New Testament   
   itself, have guaranteed the integrity of its transmission. The Church's unity,   
   in a word, can never be other than a unity in the apostolic faith, in the faith   
   entrusted to each new member of the Body of Christ during the rite of Baptism.   
   It is this faith which unites us to the Lord".   
      
   The Holy Father continued his observations: "We are all aware of the   
   challenges, the blessings, the disappointments and the signs of hope which have   
   marked our ecumenical journey. ... We know that the friendships we have forged,   
   the dialogue which we have begun and the hope which guides us will provide   
   strength and direction as we persevere on our common journey. At the same time,   
   with evangelical realism, we must also recognise the challenges which confront   
   us, not only along the path of Christian unity, but also in our task of   
   proclaiming Christ in our day. Fidelity to the Word of God, precisely because   
   it is a true Word, demands of us an obedience which leads us together to a   
   deeper understanding of the Lord's will, an obedience which must be free of   
   intellectual conformism or facile accommodation to the spirit of the age".   
      
   "Gathered in this ancient monastic church, we can recall the example of a great   
   Englishman and churchman whom we honour in common: St. Bede the Venerable. At   
   the dawn of a new age in the life of society and of the Church, Bede understood   
   both the importance of fidelity to the word of God as transmitted by the   
   apostolic tradition, and the need for creative openness to new developments and   
   to the demands of a sound implantation of the Gospel in contemporary language   
   and culture".   
      
   "May St. Bede's example inspire the Christians of these lands to rediscover   
   their shared legacy, to strengthen what they have in common, and to continue   
   their efforts to grow in friendship. May the Risen Lord strengthen our efforts   
   to mend the ruptures of the past and to meet the challenges of the present with   
   hope in the future".   
      
   After the ceremony, the Pope travelled back to the apostolic nunciature by car.   
   PV-UNITED KINGDOM/VIS 20100918 (1070)   
      
   SUMMARY   
      
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