Cardinal Walter Kasper, President of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity, is to visit Liverpool this coming weekend. On Sunday, 23 May, he will celebrate the Solemn Mass in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King at 11am, after which he will bless with a Prayer of Dedication the two glass steles (columns) newly positioned at the bottom of the steps to the Cathedral, which are the work of German artist, Raphael Seitz, a friend of the Cardinal who will also be present. It is appropriate that the dedication should take place on the Feast of Pentecost as it is the anniversary feast of the consecration of the Metropolitan Cathedral forty-three years ago in 1967.
In the afternoon Cardinal Kasper will preach at the ‘Two Cathedrals Service’ which begins in Liverpool’s Anglican Cathedral at 3pm and, following a procession along Hope Street, will conclude in the Metropolitan Cathedral at approximately 4.30pm. Since the visit of Pope John Paul II 28 years ago on the Feast of Pentecost in 1982, the ‘Two Cathedrals Service’ has regularly taken place on Pentecost Sunday with thousands of pilgrims celebrating unity by walking along Hope Street.
Hmmm, the cardinal in charge of promoting Christian unity at an annual joint Anglican-RC service on Pentecost, involving a procession between both cathedrals. Nice. And the joint Pentecost service is a tradition that’s gone on for almost three decades. Even better.
From what I recall, another interesting sign of growing ecumenical relations is that the Anglican cathedral was designed by a Roman Catholic architect, while the Catholic cathedral was designed by an Anglican. Both built long before the ecumenical thaw that Vatican II started. Bishop J. C. Ryle call your office! The fiercely Protestant first Anglican bishop of Liverpool could never have imagined a joint, friendly service like this.
David Handy+