Thursday, September 16, 2010

Hello, London

Sure, we might never see B16 captured using a computer... but tonight, a major victory for technology's progress in the church: a shot of Il Papa with a printer.

After an exuberant day in Scotland that elegantly mixed church and state -- before crowd-estimates of some 70,000 for the Glasgow Mass and over 120,000 flocking to see the Popemobile down Edinburgh's Royal Mile -- the Pope arrived in England after 9pm local time, heading immediately from Heathrow Airport to his residence for the next three nights: the Nunciature (Vatican embassy) to the Court of St James, located in London's Wimbledon section, literally a backhand away from tennis' most sacred turf, the All-England Club. (The visitor's shown above at a window of his temporary digs, greeting the onlookers who showed up.)

Tomorrow's program takes place in two parts -- first, a morning sprint beginning at 10am with the "world of Catholic education" in Britain, followed by a meeting with religious leaders, both of which will include speeches.

The afternoon, however, brings the day's three-part centrepiece: Benedict's 4pm trek to Lambeth Palace to visit with the archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams; the much-anticipated Westminster Hall speech an hour later, then the 6pm Evensong alongside the Anglican primate in Westminster Abbey. All three events will see further PopeTalks -- a total haul that, with five "full" discourses in all, comprises this visit's most prolific day as words go.

All times above are UK local (five hours ahead of the East, eight of the West); here's your livestream, and don't forget the Visit Missal -- which includes the prayer-texts to be used at the education meeting, in a brief rite at Lambeth and, above all, at the Abbey Vespers.

Hope you're all enjoying things so far... for all the rest, as always, stay tuned.

PHOTO: AP(1); Getty(2)


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