THE PROPOSED visit of Queen Elizabeth to the Republic has been warmly welcomed by the Catholic primate Cardinal Seán Brady.
It
would be, he said, “an important religious and civic event”.
He was
also “conscious of the very warm and gracious welcome offered by Her
Majesty to Pope Benedict XVI on his recent visit to Scotland and
England”.
He welcomed the visit particularly “as a mark of the
mutual respect that exists between our two countries and also of the
deep bonds of friendship between the Church of Ireland and the Catholic
Church on this island at this time”.
At the Abrahamic Religions
dinner in Belfast last night, hosted by the Northern Ireland Dialogue
Society, he said he hoped the Government in the Republic and, after May
elections, the North’s new Executive, would prioritise “establishing new
structures of formal dialogue with and between the major faith
traditions on this island”.
Separately, the Irish Inter-Church Meeting, which represents 14 Christian traditions, has welcomed the queen’s planned visit.