Pope Benedict XVI was to elevate a famed 19th century Catholic convert to the final stage before sainthood at a huge mass yesterday as the pontiff wrapped up his historic state visit to Britain.
About 65,000 people were expected at the beatification mass for John Henry Newman in Birmingham, the crowning final moment of a four-day trip that commentators say has helped ease tensions with Anglicans.
British police said, meanwhile, that they had freed without charge six men who were arrested on suspicion of plotting a “terrorist” attack against the pope, whose visit has been surrounded by tight security.
“Six men who were arrested under the Terrorism Act 2000 on Friday, 17 September, were all released without charge late on Saturday night and early this morning [yesterday],” Scotland Yard said in a statement.
The pope was to fly by helicopter to Birmingham from London for the service for Newman, one of the Catholic Church’s leading thinkers and one of its most famous converts.
In the 1830s, after trying to “renew” the Anglican Church, Newman became convinced that Catholicism was the only true faith and converted to Catholicism, then rising to become a cardinal.
He is being beatified because in 2001, an American from Boston who suffered a debilitating spinal disorder claimed he could suddenly walk again after praying to Newman. The pope last year proclaimed this a miracle.
The beatification also comes amid fresh tensions sparked last year when Benedict announced measures making it easier for disaffected Anglicans to convert over issues such as the ordination of women priests.
The pope’s trip has been marked by deeply symbolic gestures of reconciliation toward the Church of England, which was formed in 1534 when England’s king Henry VIII broke with Rome after it refused to annul his marriage.
Benedict made a highly public show of unity on Friday with Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, the head of the Church of England, at Westminster Abbey.
The first papal trip to mainly Anglican Britain since John Paul II visited in 1982 has also been marked by Benedict’s repeated expressions of remorse over the pedophile priest crisis engulfing the Roman Catholic Church.
The pope on Saturday in London met with five victims of sexual abuse by clergy, four women and a man, to express his “shame” and “deep sorrow” for their suffering.
In a statement, a Church spokesman said the pope was “moved by what they had to say and expressed his deep sorrow and shame over what victims and their families had suffered. He prayed with them and assured them that the Catholic Church is continuing to implement effective measures designed to safeguard young people.”
Earlier on Saturday, Benedict said that he and the entire Church felt shamed and humiliated by the behavior of priests who had caused “immense suffering.”
Using his strongest language so far when discussing the scandal, the pope said: “I express my deep sorrow to the innocent victims of these unspeakable crimes.”
However, victims’ representatives said his comments did not add up to an apology.
“I feel deep sorrow about the suffering I see on the news, but there’s an enormous difference between an expression of sorrow and an apology and acknowledgement of responsibility. The Vatican chooses its words very carefully and that so-called apology could have been written by lawyers. It has ‘no liability’ all over it,” said Colm O’Gorman, of the Irish victim support group One in Four.
“Why, if the pope feels so much remorse, won’t he take action? Showing remorse isn’t leadership. Taking decisive action is leadership,” Peter Isely of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said.
The pope’s remarks were made during his sermon at the most solemn service for Catholics of his four-day visit, in Westminster Cathedral.
“I ... acknowledge, with you, the shame and humiliation which all of us have suffered because of these sins; and I invite you to offer it to the Lord with trust that this chastisement will contribute to the healing of the victims and the purification of the church and the renewal of her age-old commitment to the education and care of young people,” the pope said.
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