Tag: ecumenism

1st February 2017 Holy See

Stephen Townsend

Stephen Townsend

Deputy Head of Mission

Ecumenism in Music

Last week saw the visit of the choir of Westminster Abbey, for a joint concert with the Sistine Chapel Choir.  This was a wonderful concert, with the two choirs combining to fill the Basilica of St John Lateran with music from both the Catholic and Anglican traditions:  pieces by Giovanni Palestrina showcased the  Catholic style, […]

Read more on Ecumenism in Music | Reply

23rd March 2016

Avatar photo

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Fifty Anglican years at the Vatican

March 1966 saw an historic visit to the Vatican, the first official visit by an Archbishop of Canterbury since – incredibly – Thomas Arundel in 1398. Rightly, it will be much celebrated during the year ahead. The visit had been made possible by the Second Vatican Council, which formally opened up the Roman Catholic Church […]

Read more on Fifty Anglican years at the Vatican | Reply (1)

14th October 2015

Avatar photo

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Rome: the global home of religious encounter

All the media focus here at the Vatican at the moment is on the cut and thrust of debate at the Synod of Bishops, meeting on the issue of the family. Amidst the coverage of differences between bishops, proposals on pastoral practice and doctrine, and the views of the Pope, one important dimension has been […]

Read more on Rome: the global home of religious encounter | Reply (2)

14th May 2015

Avatar photo

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Ecumenists and Diplomats

Amongst the Vasari frescoes In the Sala Regia in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican is a series to make ecumenists blanche. It depicts the planning and implementation of the St Bartholomew’s Eve Massacre – the massacre in Paris on 23-24 August 1572, ordered by the King of France, of thousands of French Huguenot Protestants. […]

Read more on Ecumenists and Diplomats | Reply

3rd July 2014

Avatar photo

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

The Anglican Centre: an essential presence in Rome

The recent visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury – Justin Welby’s second since he and Pope Francis began their respective missions in the same week in March 2013 – placed in the spotlight the relationship between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church across the world. One of the key instruments of that relationship […]

Read more on The Anglican Centre: an essential presence in Rome | Reply (5)

22nd May 2014

Avatar photo

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

The Pope’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land: bearing fruit

One of the most extraordinary aspects of Pope Francis’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land on 24-26 May is how it has started to bear fruit even before it has begun. Sadly, the lands that he will be visiting – the crucible for some of the most intractable conflicts in human history – are not known […]

Read more on The Pope’s pilgrimage to the Holy Land: bearing fruit | Reply (4)

25th June 2012

Avatar photo

by Nigel Baker

Ambassador to the Holy See (2011-2016)

Ecumenism in action: Westminster Abbey in Rome

I was discussing ecumenism recently with a senior official of the Holy See. We agreed that while there is ongoing much useful discussion between representatives of different denominations – inter-Christian ecumenical dialogue has been one of the great fruits of the Second Vatican Council – there needed to be more “doing together” as well as […]

Read more on Ecumenism in action: Westminster Abbey in Rome | Reply (9)