British parliamentary group concludes visit to Vatican

View from St Peter's - ICN

British politicians from the All Party Parliamentary Group on the Holy See concluded a three day visit to the Holy See today (Thursday) accompanied by the Catholic chaplain to the UK Parliament, Canon Pat Browne.

The 11 member Group led by the Co-Chair Sir Edward Leigh, was hosted by Britain’s ambassador to the Holy See, Nigel Baker. They met with Pope Francis following his General Audience on Wednesday, held talks with top officials at the Secretariat of State and other Vatican offices, as well as visiting Caritas Internationalis and the Sant’ Egidio Community.

The Group - the first of its kind among world parliaments - is made up of representatives of both House of Parliament and all the principal political parties. Its main role is “to monitor the relationship between the UK and the Holy See - exploring a broad range of issues pertaining to the Vatican and the work of the Catholic Church”.

Canon Browne said: "It was great to be in Rome at this time. It was a privilege to be in the square with more than 100,000 people yesterday morning. The excitement was palpable. I celebrated Mass with the group at St Peter's tomb this morning.

"One of the hot topics discussed was the immigration issue and the Lampadusa experience. Another was the contribution to people living with HIV AIDS of the Catholic Sant' Egidio Community which enabled 80 percent of mothers treated to deliver healthy babies. There was an excellent meeting with Cardinal Turkson on Syria and the plight of those living in that country. It was an enlightening and enriching experience for all the delegates."

Just ten years ago, the British government was considering closing the British Embassy in the Vatican. These days it is busier than ever.

Speaking on Vatican Radio this morning, Sir Edward Leigh said that relations between Britain and the UK have become much stronger in recent years - he thought probably largely due to the visit of Pope Benedict in 2010, who made history when he spoke in the Houses of Parliament. This year's delegation had a much larger programme than ones in the past, he said.

“The point about the Holy See is that it’s not a temporal power, but it is an enormous soft power, to use modern jargon. It’s a religion of 1.2 billion people and therefore the British government and the British parliament is very interested in what the Vatican says…..

For instance, Syria, what the Pope did in his day of prayer I think was significant: as you know, the British parliament, quite rightly in my view, led the world in voting against the war, and I think the Vatican and other Church people had a role to play in all that……

To listen to the interview with Sir Edward Leigh go to: www.news.va/en/news/british-parliamentarians-conclude-visit-to-the-vat

Source: Vatican Radio/ICN