(from Norwich) “It is a great joy for me to be here today, in Norwich, and meet my brothers and sisters who are part of the Episcopate of the Church of England. This retreat opportunity for Catholic and Anglican bishops is a regular appointment in our agenda. It gives us a chance to dialogue in an open and constructive manner; it is an opportunity rich in fraternity for us to relax and enjoy time spent together”.

These sentiments were expressed by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Catholic Primate of England and Wales, at the opening of the two-day event of prayer, theology and pastoral care that brings together, in the medieval city, some fifty bishops of the two Christian faiths. The agenda for today and tomorrow includes moments of sharing; a pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Julian, the medieval mystic venerated as a Saint by the Anglican Church and as a Blessed by the Catholic Church; and a lecture on Saint John Henry Newman by Monsignor Roderick Strange, Rector of Mater Ecclesiae College, at St. Mary’s Catholic University in London.
“I think that secularisation, an ideology that, today, is a cloak that threatens to cover every part of our lives, facilitates our ecumenical journey”, the leader of the Catholic Church of England and Wales told SIR news agency. “For it forces us to be clearer and more specific about what we can offer to today’s society in our work of evangelisation”.