It's been quite a weekend in Rome. We have begun the great feast of Pentecost which I posted about yesterday with the great fire and wind of the Holy Spirit hovering not just over the 'two lungs of Christianity' - Eastern Orthodoxy and Western Catholicism - but also over the Jewish and Muslim Presidents from Israel and Palestine. All the reports today stress how Pope Francis' initiative caught everyone by surprise, not least in his subversion of protocol. This really is the work of the Spirit - as I said yesterday 'bending what is rigid, warming what is frozen, cooling what is over-heated'. As we prepare at St Marys for our Dialogue Conference next week ( 16th - 18th June, see www.smuc.ac.uk/inspire) this new initiative is both timely and inspiring. All our speakers will no doubt be making reference to it. Although it catches many commentators by surprise we shall be demonstrating next week how the call for dialogue is deeply rooted in Catholic initiatives over the past 50 years beginning with the Second Vatican Council and Ecclesiam Suam... the groundbreaking encyclical from Pope Paul VI, soon to be beatified for his great work as a reconciler and healer. So, as these events unfold let us pray together for peace between the faith and world leaders. In the words of Abbot Timothy Wright, one of our speakers next week, 'there is no peace without prayer'.
Happy Pentecost!
Peter
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