Pope's visit: A cause for hope

The forthcoming visit of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XV1’s visit to Britain comes at a very critical time. The motto for the visit is ‘Heart speaks unto heart’ and as global spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church it is fitting that we receive him and rejoice with our Catholic brothers and sisters.

Inevitably, a visit of such high profile will be layered with so many nuances and bring focus on critical issues within the wider Church and society. The media will continue to give attention to the spectrum of opinion.

However, the mind and heart of the Catholic faithful keenly anticipates and welcomes the Holy Father. There is an excitement and as the prayer vigils and the centre piece Mass in Birmingham are celebrated, we pray that this will be an inspiration and a strengthening of faith and confidence for all who gather.

The focus of such events is the presence of God, through His Spirit. We would do well to pray that the message of God will not be deafened in the cacophony and clamour.

‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches’ (Revelation) is the challenge. In such a prayer we seek to overcome institutional barriers, man-made practices or popular culture.

For the Churches in Britain as ‘heart speaks unto heart’ we celebrate the commitment of Christians in our many diverse groups and declare the Gospel and grace of Jesus, who unites us all. We recognise the challenges of the churches across the nation, yet as we meet together in varied ways during these next days we will celebrate the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

We are promised God’s presence and we pray that there would be an energising of witness and rekindling of confident faith as we receive the Gospel and demonstrate the Gospel. To a watching complex modern world it is not unreasonable to pray that we would have a faith worth sharing and be a church worth joining.

We stand together in witness and prayer that the visit of Pope Benedict and the coming together of Christians would give cause for hope and for many be an important marker in their faith journey. God will be pleased if we are found listening to one another, accepting and receiving from one another out of the richness of God’s blessing to us and exploring relationships that express Gods’ love to us and through us.

The results and value of meeting with one another, of opening our hearts to one another, will be measured in the way in which we work out the commands of God ‘to love one another as Christ loved us’ and to demonstrate in our daily lives, in our relationships and in our care and concern for the most vulnerable. The results of shared witness and unity is under-girded with the prayer, voiced by Jesus, that it will bring others to believe that Jesus came from God.



Commissioner Betty Matear is joint leader of The Salvation Army in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, and Moderator of the Free Churches in England and Wales.