Queen Elizabeth Invites Cardinal To Preach To Royal Family

ZENIT.org News Agency ^ | 6-Dec-2001 | Zenit

[patent]

In the spirit of recent articles about the Queen and Queens past (See, e.g., Queen Dismisses Linux (as the software for the royal family’s website), I give you:

QUEEN ELIZABETH INVITES CARDINAL TO PREACH TO ROYAL FAMILY

Historic Offer to Stay at Country Retreat House

LONDON, (Zenit.org).- In a historic gesture, Queen Elizabeth has invited the Catholic primate of England and Wales to stay at the Sandringham country retreat house and to preach to the Royal Family.

The invitation to Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O´Connor marks a formal end to 500 years of antagonism and suspicion between the monarch as supreme governor of the Church of England and the Catholic Church, the Telegraph newspaper reported.

Cardinal Murphy-O´Connor will be the first Catholic archbishop of Westminster to stay with the Queen at her Norfolk estate and to preach at the Sunday morning service.

It is expected that Prince Philip, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother and other members of the Royal Family will be staying at Sandringham on the same weekend of Jan 12 and 13.

"The cardinal is greatly honored by the Queen´s invitation," said his spokesman Tuesday. "This is a further sign of the Queen´s own determination to promote ecumenical relations within the nation."

The Queen´s invitation to the cardinal is the culmination of years of careful and gradual friendship-building between the historic enemies.

In 1982 the Queen greeted John Paul II at Buckingham Palace. In November 1995 she became the first monarch since the Stuarts to take part in a Catholic service when she attended vespers at Westminster Cathedral. In October 2000 she met with the Holy Father at the Vatican.

The Queen was also an admirer of the late Cardinal Basil Hume, whom she called "my cardinal."

In 1999, when he was dying of cancer, she appointed him to the Order of Merit. The honor was greeted as a sign of his success in moving the Catholic Church to the heart of British public life.

A Palace spokesman acknowledged the historic significance of the invitation. He said: "This is in the spirit of cooperation, unity and friendship that Her Majesty has always practiced. It is a sign of the ecumenical age we are in."

[patent]

Bumping. Let me know if you want on or off the list. Click my screen name for a description.

patent

[wideawake]

Wow. The last Catholic priest who tried this got disembowelled.

The times they are a-changing.

[patent]

I wonder how the Cardinal's sermon will go over?

[Romulus]

I wonder if any of the Catholic royals will be invited.

[Straight Vermonter]

Considering that almost no one in England any longer attends the the Church of England, maybe this will be a start to bringing some people back to the Church.

[patent]

I was wondering that too. I don't have much of a head for royal protocol though.

[firebrand]

The end must be near.

[patent]

LOL. Think we could tie this to Revelations somehow?

[Dumb_Ox]

The Queen was also an admirer of the late Cardinal Basil Hume, whom she called "my cardinal."

The local Jesuit superior took his college students on a trip to London a few years back, and they were priviliged to attend a mass with Cardinal Hume. For reasons unclear to me, Her Royal Majesty was in attendance. Knowing the impropriety of intercommunion, she instead sought a blessing from His Eminence(which he cheerfully gave) in the humble manner of a child: arms crossed like St. Andrew's saltire across her bosom.

[okie_tech]

"Queen Elizabeth has invited the Catholic primate of England and Wales"

I didn't know catholics ordained monkeys. ;-)Just kidding.

[eastsider]

Wake me up when the English Monarch and Parliament recognize their lack of ecclesial authority.

[ArrogantBustard]

She has class, unlike their Royal Hideousnesses, Billy Jeff and Hitlery Klinton.

[ArrogantBustard]

I'd cheerfully substitute orangutans for some of our Bishops. Their gibbering would actually make more sense.

[ikanakattara]

Not only does she have class; her son has been quoted once or twice as saying that if he were king, he would "disestablish" the Church of England so that it was not the "state" church, and that he himself would not be considered the "head" of it (leaving that honor presumably to the Archbishop of Canterbury.)

[eastsider]

Not only does she have class; her son has been quoted once or twice as saying that if he were king, he would "disestablish" the Church of England so that it was not the "state" church, and that he himself would not be considered the "head" of it (leaving that honor presumably to the Archbishop of Canterbury.)

Good morning!

[Cicero]

This is a welcome move.

Contrast it with Tony Blair, who said it would be too much trouble to repeal the old laws against having a Catholic monarch, but who went to endless trouble to lower the age of homosexual consent.

[Claud]

he would "disestablish" the Church of England

Whoa Nellie!!

I hadn't even considered that possibility. Anyone have any thought on what this does for reunion?

[afraidfortherepublic]

She must be desperate to civilize her rowdy offspring! (no flames -- just joking)

Seriously, this is a great advance.

[Arthur McGowan]

Lots of them.