Vatican Radio: Abbot Power; Bishop McMahon; Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarchate

None of these items will tell you why our Bishops were not present at the Vespers, but the interview with Abbot Power of the Benedictine Community at St Paul Outside-the-Walls, makes one wonder even more about their absence. All the items are dated Monday January 25

Abbot Power refers to the said Vespers as the 'culminating event of the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity'. He refers to the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul as a 'great celebration' and to St. Paul as 'the most important ecumenical figure in the history of the Church'. He explains this by using the symbolism of the presence of St Paul's basilica 'outside-the-Walls'. St. Peter, he says, had to be persuaded by St. Paul that the Gospel of Christ is for all men, not just the Jews. Paul knew this from the beginning and went 'outside-the-walls' as a result. Father Abbot was refreshingly honest in answer to the question as to why this great ecumenical service always took place at Vespers and not at 'the Eucharist'. He said that whilst there are still disagreements about the meaning of the Eucharist, between the different denominations, it is not possible for the Church to share that Eucharist. But what we can share, is prayer.
This interview was timed at 4,43pm, that is before the celebration of the Vespers.

Another item reports the event up until the end of the Holy Father's Homily. This is timed at 6.51pm, that is when the Celebration was almost over. It states that when he arrived at St. Paul's, he was greeted by Rowan Williams' representative in Rome.and by the Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarhate's representative to Italy, Metropolitan Gennadios. Maybe the second lesson was read by him perhaps I imisnformed you in an earlier post. My apologies in that case.

The contribution of Bishop McMahon about the ad limina, is timed 6.55pm. It is not an interview and sounds rather like a pre-recorded message. Why, of all our bishops, he was chosen, I've no idea. If he is spokesperson for our Conference of bishops, why did he speak only about his own diocese of Nottingham. This seemed a very narrow and restricted remit for such an important subject and on such an important day. There was no mention of St Paul, or the Vespers as I recall. The other two items highlighted their importance.

If any of us had been in Rome, would we have stayed away? No, I think we would have gone there expecting to see all our prelates in full assembly. After all. they in Rome to represent the state of their flocks to the Pope.

They are thought to have been invited. One cannot seriously imagine the Holy Father asking them to stay away. I cannot see other ecumenical meetings going on at the same time as more important than a public show of solidarity with our Pope. The Liturgy comes first, and an invitation to a Papal Liturgy surely should be at the top of anyone's priority list, bishop or not. Illness is the only excuse, and I sincerely hope they have not caught some dreadful 'bug'.

It's highly unlikely that we will be given an explanation as to why our bishops were not present. For this reason it is also highly unlikely that I'll post again on the topic. (btw, the English experts at Vatican Radio, can't spell 'receive'!)

A happy St. Thomas Aquinas day to everyone.