Papal visit: The joy of being at Westminster Abbey with the Successor of St Peter!

It was a great honour to be present tonight at one of the most historic events in British history! Of course, I'm referring to the visit of the Successor of St Peter to the Abbey (or Collegiate) Church of St Peter in Westminster to celebrate evening prayer. Those with any inkling of the political, constitutional, or religious history of England will know how this evening's prayer service with Pope Benedict XVI and Archbishop Rowan Williams was a hugely significant event.

Westminster Abbey was rebuilt by King Edward the Confessor, in lieu of a promised pilgrimage to Rome, and at the request of the pope. The monastic settlement, with its strong links to English Crown, was placed under St Peter's patronage, emphasising the monarch's dependence upon the Papacy. Other kings, such as Henry III, also made their mark on the Abbey - usually by engaging in massive building works. These kings, too, always strove to confirm the Petrine nature of the monastery. In fact, before the Reformation - at which time the Abbey became a Royal Peculiar - the Benedictine community at Westminster was a "Papal Peculiar", i.e. directly under the authority of Rome.

Being so linked to the Papacy, it's amazing to think that no pope has ever visited before. Of course, after a certain period of history it would have become virtually impossible for a pope to enter the church. The Abbey became linked to the Protestant Reformation and the Elizabethan Settlement during the tumultuous days of the sixteenth century. Since then, and especially since the Restoration in the 1660s, Westminster Abbey has become particularly linked with the British state, even becoming a form of mausoleum for the great and the good - even if they were, at times, not particular fans of the Gospel!

Tonight, at the Abbey, it felt as if the Pope was reclaiming something that really belonged to him. It was, in that respect, good to hear the Archbishop of Canterbury defer to him, and acknowledge his Petrine ministry and mission. I particularly enjoyed hearing Rowan Williams refer to Pope Benedict XVI's "Benedictine" work of reform and renewal. It was particularly nice to hear the Pope being described as a new St Benedict, a father of civilisation and the leader of the re-evangelisation of the West, in what was once a Benedictine abbey, founded, indirectly, by a pope. It was also good to hear the Pope remind his audience that he is the Successor of St Peter, and as such has a fundamental responsibility to work for Christian unity.

On the way to the Abbey, I was accosted by a Protestant fundamentalist who was handing out anti-papal tracts. As I walked on, it struck me that so many of those who protest against the Papacy, or Pope Benedict XVI in particular, are like parasites. These characters all have their own strange agendas: be that gay rights, sixteenth century Protestantism, eighteenth century atheism, or whatever. They all unite against the Pope, though, because they know that they'll be able to hog some of the global focus that will inevitably be on him. In that sense, the Papacy provides a platform for these characters, a platform they couldn't otherwise expect to have! It's also true for Christians of other denominations - surely, they must recognise that the Pope is the only person on the planet able to speak for all the followers of Christ? When he's present the cameras role, and people listen. During this visit to the UK people have actually taken the time to listen to the Archbishop of Canterbury, only because he was standing next to the Holy Father. Also, the BBC has devoted more hours to religious broadcasting in the past week than it would otherwise do in a whole year! Those who are either outright enemies of the Catholic Church, or are Christians outside the true fold, should be extremely grateful for the Papacy, for without it they would be starved of the oxygen of publicity!

As for the Ecumenical Service itself? Well, it was, sadly, very Anglican - theatrical on the outside, empty on the inside. Unlike some of the other Papal events or religious services, this evening prayer seemed stuffy and closed to any forms of spontaneity. Most of the congregation seemed to be Protestant, and not fully aware of the historic value of the occasion - one man even took a call on his phone as the entrance procession was beginning! It was wonderful to be so close to the Holy Father, though, even if I didn't really see him. He is quite small in stature, and I was sitting behind a very, very, big man! Having said that, I had a good view of St Edward's Shrine as the Pope and the Archbishop of Canterbury prayed at the tomb - the massive clouds of incense seemed to symbolise the intensity of their prayer! Also, there were some television sets dotted about the church, so vision was aided in an artificial sort of way. The best thing about the service, though, was actually being able to hear the Holy Father's voice "in the flesh", so to speak. All in all, it's still hard to believe that the Successor of St Peter was less than 100 yards from my flat!

As the service came to an end, I noticed the man who had been sitting to my left. I happened to look at his lapel and saw that he, too, was wearing the same lapel-pin that Fr Jason Jones had given me yesterday! What a coincidence! We got talking, and he had been given the badge by Fr Jones, too! He was also a Welsh speaking Catholic, as was his wife. And, unbeknown to us at the time, all three of us had prayed the Lord's Prayer in Welsh during the service. It's a small world, and Providence is always at work within it!

[Picture note: The order of service from tonight's event at Westminster Abbey; joyless, sad, and desperately parasitic Protestants (seen from the Abbey) - by the way, they were surrounded by a sea of Papal flags and enthusiastic supporters of Pope Benedict XVI]