UNITED KINGDOM: Archbishop of Canterbury welcomes papal visit set for September

March 16, 2010 [Episcopal News Service] Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams on March 16 welcomed the official announcement that His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI is to visit the United Kingdom in September at the invitation of Her Majesty The Queen.

"The pope's visit will be an opportunity to cement ties not only between the Holy See and the United Kingdom but also the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches in Scotland, England and Wales," he said. "I look forward particularly to welcoming Pope Benedict to Lambeth Palace on behalf of the Church of England."

The Sept. 16-19 visit will be the first official papal trip to the U.K. since Benedict became pope in April 2005.

During his visit, the pope is expected to conduct a prayer vigil in London, pray with other church leaders at Westminster Abbey, hold a public mass in Glasgow, and beatify the 19th century theologian and educationalist Cardinal John Henry Newman at a public mass in Coventry.