Pope Benedict XVI will beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman, 1801-1890, the best known English churchman of the 19th Century, during an open air public Mass at Coventry Airport, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham, on Sunday 19 September 2010.
Cardinal Keith O'Brien, President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, the Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, host, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, pictured after the Papal Visit press briefing at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, on Tuesday, 16 March.
The ceremony will take place during the historic first State Visit by a Pope to Great Britain at the invitation of HM The Queen, from Thursday, 16 September to Sunday 19 September.
The official announcement of the State Visit was made by Buckingham Palace at noon on Tuesday 16 March.
No further details about the Beatification Ceremony were given during a relaxed, 45-minute press briefing hosted by the Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Jim Murphy, a Catholic, is the Minister leading the preperations for the visit.
During the briefing, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, emphasised that it would be the first time that Pope Benedict XVI had beatified any Servant of God during his Pontificate.
Since the election of Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005, all beatification ceremonies, with a few exceptions in Rome, have been held in the diocese where the Servant of God was either born, lived or died.
Beatification ceremonies usually last about two hours and Pope Benedict XVI is likely to recite the Angelus at the end of the Mass, as he does in public every Sunday, usually at Noon
During the press briefing Jim Murphy MP, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, and Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, answered a wide range of questions without going into specific details about the programme for the Visit.
Archbishop Nichols confirmed that the public Mass at Coventry would be celebrated at Coventry Airport.
After the official announcement, Father Richard Duffield, Provost of the Birmingham Oratory and Actor of the Cause of John Henry Newman, issued the following statement:
“The Fathers and many friends of the English Oratories are delighted by the official announcement that our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI will beatify our founder, the Venerable John Henry Newman, in the Archdiocese of Birmingham during his visit to Britain in September.
“Newman made his home in the Archdiocese for all his adult life, first in Oxford, where he lived as an Anglican and was received into the Catholic Church, and later in Birmingham itself where he founded and worked in the Birmingham Oratory for over forty years.
“The Holy Father’s life-long devotion to Newman has made a profound contribution to understanding the depth and significance of our founder’s legacy. His decision to beatify Newman in person confers a unique blessing upon the English Oratories and all who have drawn inspiration from Newman’s life and work.
“We joyfully look forward to welcoming the Holy Father, as well as the many pilgrims and visitors who will come to the Beatification ceremony and visit Newman’s shrine at the Birmingham Oratory.
“We also look forward to the challenging work of preparing for the Beatification in conjunction with Church and civil authorities. We pray that the Beatification will fittingly reflect both Newman’s significance for the Universal Church and the honour paid to our Archdiocese and our country by the Holy Father’s presence among us”.
Here is the full text of the news release issued jointly by HM Government of the United Kingdom and the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, England and Wales on Tuesday 16 March 2010:
UK GOVERNMENT AND CATHOLIC BISHOPS WELCOME STATE VISIT OF POPE BENEDICT XVI TO THE UNITED KINGDOM
The UK Government and the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Scotland, England and Wales today welcomed the forthcoming visit to the United Kingdom of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI. At a joint press conference, they said that the Papal Visit represents an unprecedented opportunity to strengthen ties between the UK and the Holy See on global initiatives, as well as the important role of faith in creating strong communities.
Her Majesty The Queen announced earlier today that the visit will take place from 16-19 September. It will be the first ever official Papal Visit to the UK – the visit by Pope John Paul II in 1982 was a pastoral visit only.
The Pope will be received at the Palace of Holyroodhouse by Her Majesty The Queen. His Holiness will give a major speech to British civil society at Westminster Hall. He will also visit the West Midlands to beatify the nineteenth century theologian and educationalist Cardinal John Henry Newman at a public Mass in Coventry.
Other key elements of the visit will include a public mass in Glasgow, a prayer vigil in London and an event focusing on education. Relations between the Christian Churches will be a theme of the visit as will the relations between the major faiths. The Pope will visit the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace and pray with other Church leaders at Westminster Abbey.
Full details of the Pope’s itinerary will be announced nearer the time.
Rt Hon Jim Murphy MP, Secretary of State for Scotland, is the Government Minister leading the preparations for the visit. He said: “This is an historic visit at an important time. The Pope will receive a very warm welcome from Catholics and people of all faiths. As well as providing spiritual leadership to over a billion Catholics around the world, including six million in the UK, the Pope and the Holy See have great influence on global policy in areas such as international development, sustainability and the relationships between religions.
“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. We aim to build further on the positive relationship we have developed in recent years.”
Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh and President of the Catholics Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said: “I am thrilled that the Pope has accepted the UK Government’s gracious invitation and I am sure he will receive a heartfelt welcome from Catholics as well as members of other faiths and people of goodwill.
“A defining feature of Pope Benedict’s teaching has been to remind Europe of its Christian roots and culture and to give us guidance on the great moral issues of our day and it is my hope that we all open our hearts to his words.”
The Most Reverend Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, and President of the Catholics Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, said: “As Catholics we are delighted to welcome Pope Benedict. We thank Her Majesty The Queen and her government for extending this historic invitation to His Holiness.
“We are confident that the presence and message of Pope Benedict will encourage everyone to aspire again to a vision of life in our society marked by mutual trust, compassion and truth. The great Christian tradition of faith and life, which has so shaped our culture, has so much more to offer. This gentle yet profound teacher of his faith will encourage and strengthen all who receive his words.”
THE CATHOLIC BISHOPS’ CONFERENCES HAVE SET UP AN OFFICIAL WEBSITE: www.thepapalvisit.org.uk
BACKGROUND
Pope John Paul II made a six-day Pastoral Visit to Great Britain from 28 May to 2 June 1982. The visit in September 2010 will be a Papal Visit with the status of a State Visit. As such, the Catholic Bishops’ Conferences of Scotland, England and Wales will contribute to the organisation and the costs.
The UK and the Holy See restarted diplomatic relations in 1914 and agreed full ambassadorial relations in 1982.
The Holy See has taken a great interest in many of the same foreign policy priorities as the UK. As well as backing the UN Millennium Development Goals for aid to the developing world, Vatican City was also the world’s first state to become carbon neutral.
In 2006 Pope Benedict XVI bought the world’s first International Finance Facility bond on immunisation, a UK initiative to raise over $1 bn to immunise people in 70 of the poorest countries of the world against diseases such as yellow fever, polio, measles and tetanus
The Pope has supported the actions of the UK government to encourage reform of the international financial institutions and establishment of an arms trade treaty, while the UK government supports and encourages the Catholic Church’s proactive stance on climate change.
