Monday, September 20, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United Kingdom from 16 to 19 September 2010 was the first state visit by a pope to the United Kingdom (Pope John Paul II made a pastoral, rather than state, visit to Great Britain in 1982). The visit was in response to an invitation from Queen Elizabeth II, with the beatification of Cardinal Newman as a "pastoral highlight".

The pope was received in Edinburgh by Elizabeth II; by meeting her in Scotland the pope avoided greeting her in her religious capacity as Supreme Governor of the Church of England. His visit included meetings with First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, Prime Minister and Conservative Party leader David Cameron, and leaders of the other main political parties.

The visit comes at a time when incidents of sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests have received prominent media attention: during the visit, Pope Benedict apologised for that and met five abuse victims. more here

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