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Update from the BBC blog: Andrew Copson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said of Pope Benedict’s speech at Westminster Hall: “The Pope’s statements concerning the alleged ‘increasing marginalisation of religion’ were a parody of the real situation in the UK, where politicians increasingly move to expand state-funded religious schools, contract public services out to religious organisations and act in other ways that privilege religious beliefs and organisations in such a disproportionate and discriminatory manner.”

It is a particular pleasure that on this historic occasion we are able to come together as bishops of the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches in this country to greet you, Your Holiness, during a visit which we all hope will be of significance both to the Church of Christ and to British society. Your consistent and penetrating analysis of the state of European society in general has been a major contribution to public debate on the relations between Church and culture, and we gratefully acknowledge our debt in this respect.

Our task as bishops is to preach the Gospel and shepherd the flock of Christ; and this includes the responsibility not only to feed but also to protect it from harm. Today, this involves a readiness to respond to the various trends in our cultural environment that seek to present Christian faith as both an obstacle to human freedom and a scandal to human intellect. We need to be clear that the Gospel of the new creation in Jesus Christ is the door through which we enter into true liberty and true understanding: we are made free to be human as God intends us to be human; we are given the illumination that helps us see one another and all created things in the light of divine love and intelligence. As you said in your Inaugural Mass in 2005, recalling your predecessor’s first words as pope, Christ takes away nothing “that pertains to human freedom or dignity or to the building of a just society”¦ If we let Christ into our lives we lose absolutely nothing of what makes life free, beautiful and great. Only in his friendship is the great potential of human existence revealed.” [Inaugural Homily, Rome, 24 April 2005]

Our presence together as British bishops here today is a sign of the way in which, in this country, we see our task as one and indivisible. The International Anglican-Roman Catholic Commission on Unity and Mission has set before us all the vital importance of our common calling as bishops to be agents of mission.

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It is not my intention today to speak of the difficulties that the ecumenical path has encountered and continues to encounter. Those difficulties are well known to everyone here. Rather, I wish to join you in giving thanks for the deep friendship that has grown between us and for the remarkable progress that has been made in so many areas of dialogue during the forty years that have elapsed since the Anglican-Roman Catholic International Commission began its work. Let us entrust the fruits of that work to the Lord of the harvest, confident that he will bless our friendship with further significant growth.

The context in which dialogue takes place between the Anglican Communion and the Catholic Church has evolved in dramatic ways since the private meeting between Pope John XXIII and Archbishop Geoffrey Fisher in 1960. On the one hand, the surrounding culture is growing ever more distant from its Christian roots, despite a deep and widespread hunger for spiritual nourishment. On the other hand, the increasingly multicultural dimension of society, particularly marked in this country, brings with it the opportunity to encounter other religions. For us Christians this opens up the possibility of exploring, together with members of other religious traditions, ways of bearing witness to the transcendent dimension of the human person and the universal call to holiness, leading to the practice of virtue in our personal and social lives. Ecumenical cooperation in this task remains essential, and will surely bear fruit in promoting peace and harmony in a world that so often seems at risk of fragmentation.

At the same time, we Christians must never hesitate to proclaim our faith in the uniqueness of the salvation won for us by Christ, and to explore together a deeper understanding of the means he has placed at our disposal for attaining that salvation. God “wants all to be saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim 2:4), and that truth is nothing other than Jesus Christ, eternal Son of the Father, who has reconciled all things in himself by the power of his Cross.

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Next Wednesday heralds the official end of summer””the autumnal equinox ””when the length of day and night are equal (circa 11:09 p.m. ET). In the 21st century, this astronomical event is little more than a passing curiosity. But rewind by about three millennia to the time of the ancient Babylonians, and the autumnal equinox marked the start of the “minor new year.” Not only did celestial events define sacred festivals. Conversely, religion powered the development of astronomy, the first science.

Today, science and religion are often thought to be very different, unconnected disciplines. But looking back at our ancient past, we see that the development of religion and early science have really gone hand-in-hand, shaping some of the characteristics of mainstream religion in ways we may not realize.

For instance, while the Babylonians celebrated their “main new year” in the spring, their tradition of having a minor autumnal new year has carried over into both mainstream religion and secular practice. Nick Campion, a historian of cultural astronomy at the University of Wales, notes two echoes of ancient autumn observances today. “It’s a custom inherited by Jews””hence Rosh Hashanah,” he told me, “while the beginning of the academic year in autumn is a secular legacy.”

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Pope Benedict XVI made history today by becoming the first pontiff to step foot inside Lambeth Palace.

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They have clearly altered his route this morning due to security concerns.

Those of you who have EWTN they have live coverage.

Update: He is at Lambeth palace now with Archbishop Williams

Another Update: Archbishop Williams is now speaking

This transcendent dimension of study and teaching was clearly grasped by the monks who contributed so much to the evangelization of these islands. I am thinking of the Benedictines who accompanied Saint Augustine on his mission to England, of the disciples of Saint Columba who spread the faith across Scotland and Northern England, of Saint David and his companions in Wales. Since the search for God, which lies at the heart of the monastic vocation, requires active engagement with the means by which he makes himself known ”“ his creation and his revealed word ”“ it was only natural that the monastery should have a library and a school (cf. Address to representatives from the world of culture at the “Collège des Bernardins” in Paris, 12 September 2008). It was the monks’ dedication to learning as the path on which to encounter the Incarnate Word of God that was to lay the foundations of our Western culture and civilization.

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In a rousing encounter with some 4,000 schoolchildren, Pope Benedict XVI asked them to make friendship with God the center of their lives.

“We need to have the courage to place our deepest hopes in God alone, not in money, in a career, in worldly success or in our relationships with others, but in God. Only he can satisfy the deepest needs of our hearts,” the pope said Sept. 17 in Twickenham, a suburb of London.

He spoke to a cheering crowd of Catholic students who filled a soccer field next to St. Mary’s University College, and via Internet to the more than 800,000 young people who followed the event from their classrooms at Catholic schools throughout Great Britain.

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Pope Benedict could not have been clearer about why he is here. May Britain “always maintain its respect for those traditional values and cultural expressions that more aggressive forms of secularism no longer value or even tolerate,” he said, before reminding the nation of “the Christian foundation that underpins its freedoms,” citing William Wilberforce and Florence Nightingale, and Britain’s sacrifice in standing against Nazism.

Why does this history lesson matter? Because of a narrative that pits human rights against religion, freedom against faith, justice against the Church. In this narrative, societies broke free from the shackles of their inheritance somewhere in the 18th century and ushered in a glorious epoch of emancipation and liberty, leaving the Church seething in the wings.

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Late last year, my wife gasped: “What’s wrong?” She saw me hunched at the computer, the online bill pay program flickering, my face blank and my hands limp in my lap.

“It’s gone,” was all I could say. Years of mounting debt, tens of thousands of dollars of it, had disappeared in five minutes. It was beyond belief, and I just sat staring at the screen.

Our financial deliverance was a big retroactive check for my wife’s first years of disability. After receiving the check, I sat down immediately to pay off the credit cards that we had run up since she had to stop working.

That’s right. We paid our debts. We had borrowed to pay huge, persistent medical bills, used credit cards to buy groceries and medicine when paychecks couldn’t stretch far enough, and I worked extra jobs to juggle the payments.

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Five men have been arrested by the Metropolitan Police in London in relation to a potential threat to the Pope’s visit

The arrests were made at 0545 BST at addresses in London after counter-terrorism officers received intelligence of a potential threat.

The five men have been taken to a central London police station.

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The Pope has paid tribute to the ”outstanding contribution” made by religious orders to education in Britain on the second day of his State visit to Britain.

He told an audience of religious congregations gathered at St Mary’s College in Twickenham, south west London, of his ”deep appreciation” for all the dedicated men and women who devote their lives to teaching the young.

He added, in an apparent reference to the child abuse scandal rocking the church, that he wished to add a ”particular word of appreciation” for those whose task is to ensure Catholic schools provide a safe environment for children and young people.

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A day after he offered his strongest criticism yet of the Roman Catholic Church’s handling of the sexual abuse crisis, Pope Benedict XVI set out on Friday to mark a moment of ecumenical symbolism, praying together with the archbishop of Canterbury in a rare display of unity at Westminster Abbey, the spiritual heart of the Church of England.

The archbishop, Dr. Rowan Williams, is the spiritual leader of the Anglican Communion that grew from the 16th century schism when Henry VIII broke with Rome. Britain’s Press Association news agency said a papal visit to the archbishop’s seat at Lambeth Palace and the subsequent prayer ceremony in the early evening at Westminster Abbey would mark the first time a pope has been to either venue.

A papal address at Westminster Abbey has been billed as the central speech of his visit.

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It was a quaint gathering at St. Mary’s College in Twickenham this morning on day 2 of Pope Benedict’s visit to the UK. After having spent yesterday in Scotland, the Holy Father made his way to London and then this morning to the school in Twickenham, a suburb just west of London.

The Holy Father was greeted by thousands of smiling young faces, cheering voices, flashing cameras and roving camcorders held by eager students and teachers alike. Pope Benedict began his first speech of the day by acknowledging the “outstanding contribution made my religious men and women in this land to the noble task of education”. Citing that he himself was educated by the “English Ladies” (otherwise known as the Loretto nuns), Pope Benedict expressed his deep appreciation to those who devote their lives to teaching the young….

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Few people need a census report to tell them that more people are living in poverty during this recession, but there it is: nearly one of every seven people in the United States was living in poverty last year.

It was the highest rate of poverty since 1994, and the largest number of people living in poverty, 43.6 million, since the government began keeping track 51 years ago.

The U.S. Census Bureau also reported stagnant incomes and rising numbers of people without health insurance, both of which contribute to poverty and a national trend of a declining middle-class standard of living that began in 2000.

“These are very tough times,” said East Cooper Community Outreach Executive Director Jack Little. “People are hurting who have never hurt before.”

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Please note that the headline above is from the print edition–KSH.

The downturn that some have dubbed the “Great Recession” has trimmed the typical household’s income significantly, new Census data show, following years of stagnant wage growth that made the past decade the worst for American families in at least half a century.

The bureau’s annual snapshot of American living standards also found that the fraction of Americans living in poverty rose sharply to 14.3% from 13.2% in 2008””the highest since 1994. Some 43.6 million Americans were living below the official poverty threshold, but the measure doesn’t fully capture the panoply of government antipoverty measures.

The inflation-adjusted income of the median household””smack in the middle of the populace””fell 4.8% between 2000 and 2009, even worse than the 1970s, when median income rose 1.9% despite high unemployment and inflation. Between 2007 and 2009, incomes fell 4.2%.

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In Pakistan — second only to Indonesia in the number of Muslims who live there — competing versions of Islam are at play, said John Voll, professor at the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University.

Most Westerners regard tensions within Islam as a struggle between its two largest branches: Sunnis, who constitute a significant majority of Muslims in Pakistan and worldwide, and Shiites, a distinct minority in most Muslim nations except for Iran and Iraq.

But Voll said the developing fissure is “much more between political-elite, stability-oriented Sunni Muslims and the radical extremists” who are also Sunnis.

A visiting professor at the Georgetown center, Shireen Hunter, said Sunnis are targeting minority Shiites, but the indiscriminate nature of suicide bombings means members of both branches get killed.

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In an e-mail, N. T. Wright, the preeminent New Testament historian and former Anglican bishop of Durham, England, said he hoped the two men would take the opportunity to discuss ways to reinvigorate Christianity in the west. “I think the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Pope might well discuss the major challenge all churches in the west face,” he wrote, “freshly stating and living the gospel in a confused postmodern world with a deep hunger for spirituality but a deep suspicion of the church.” The archbishop, he adds, has already spoken eloquently in a speech last year on the possibilities for interdenominational cooperation. Its main thrust, says Wright, was, we agree about so much, might it be possible to live together with our remaining differences?

But Paul Elie, a book editor and writer who has covered both the Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion, worries that behind closed doors, the two religious leaders will get hung up on church politics and doctrinal details having to do with who does and doesn’t have the right to receive the sacred orders of the priesthood….

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O God, by whose grace thy servant Hildegard, enkindled with the fire of thy love, became a burning and shining light in thy Church: Grant that we also may be aflame with the spirit of love and discipline, and may ever walk before thee as children of light; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who with thee, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, liveth and reigneth, one God, now and for ever.

O Loving Father, we commend to thy gracious keeping all who are near and dear to us. Have mercy upon those who are sick, and comfort all who are in pain, anxiety, or sorrow. Awaken all who are careless about eternal things. Bless those who are young and in health, that they may give the days of their strength unto thee. Comfort the aged and infirm, that thy peace may rest upon them. Hallow the ties of kindred, that we may help, and not hinder, one another in all such good works as thou hast prepared for us to walk in; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–An Anglican Church in Canada Prayer Book

Now when they had passed through Amphip’olis and Apollo’nia, they came to Thessaloni’ca, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. And Paul went in, as was his custom, and for three weeks he argued with them from the scriptures, explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus, whom I proclaim to you, is the Christ.” And some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas; as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women.

–Acts 17:1-4

The BBC’s coverage of the papal visit so far has been very good. Jim Naughtie on the Today programme this morning was almost Dimblebyian in his gravity and respect and sense of occasion, and the TV reporters did well too. We should be proud of our national broadcaster, in spite of its many faults. Not all of us are. Some have suggested that last night the BBC gave too much prominence to Cardinal Kasper’s chance remark that landing at Heathrow was like landing in the Third World. But did other broadcasting outlets not give it equal prominence? It’s what we call a “good” story ”“ ie, it was bad news ”“ and it therefore got a lot of coverage everywhere. It was the front-page lead in the Daily Mail and the Guardian, which between them cover all shades of opinion in Britain….

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From here:

The Archbishop [of Canterbury] will welcome His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to Lambeth Palace, as part of a visit to the UK at the invitation of Her Majesty The Queen.

Secular, diverse, and worldly Britain is the kind of modern society that the pope has wanted to reach with his message urging deeper religious tradition and faith. In his first speech this morning, the pontiff extended the “hand of friendship” to British people.

But despite an itinerary of bagpiper parades and meetings with current and former heads of state, the British aren’t swooning. In fact, there’s a distinct lack of reverence in the air. A Times of London poll this week shows favorable opinion for the pope’s visit in Britain at only 14 percent.

Talk about the pope’s visit instead centers on the $18 million price tag for papal security at a time of severe budget cuts. Priestly child-abuse issues have vied in the media with statements by celebrities and intellectuals opposing Vatican teachings on abortion and gay rights that are considered out of step with mainstream Britain. London bus banners read: “Pope Benedict, Ordain Women Now!”

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Pope Benedict XVI has celebrated an open-air Mass in the Scottish city of Glasgow, attended by tens of thousands of people.

About 65,000 people cheered and waved flags as the pope arrived to organ music and hymns at Bellahouston Park.

“There are some who now seek to exclude religious belief from public discourse, to privatize it, or even to paint it as a threat to equality and liberty,” the pope said. “Yet religion is in fact a guarantee of authentic liberty and respect leading us to look upon every person as a brother or a sister.”

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The diocese is reeling with emotions and Bishop Bennison’s refusal to confront the truth of what has been determined concerning the findings of his Presentment continues to confuse and confound us. His most recent public communication, his response to your letter of September 1 to the witnesses in his Presentment, continues this pattern of disassociation with what has been determined. He states that “there is nothing in my forty-two-year ordained ministry to indicate that I have ever covered up or looked the other way when I have learned of sexual abuse” flies in the face of the fact that two courts have concluded that he was guilty of “conduct unbecoming a clergy person” in the case brought to light by the Presentment. This, added to his oft quoted remarks that he “has been vindicated,” along with his insistence that his actions at the time were “just about right,” concerns us greatly. He seems not to be able to grasp the reality that while his guilt is “unpunishable” two courts still concluded and stated that he was guilty.

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