In mid-January, the Revd Lythan Nevard, Moderator of the United Reformed Church Eastern Synod, formed part of an ecumenical pilgrimage to Rome with church leaders from Norfolk and Waveney.
Here, Lythan reflects on the trip:
I was privileged to join church leaders of Norfolk and Waveney. We were Baptist, URC, Quaker, Catholic and Anglican. It turned out to be an advantage to travel with Catholic and Anglican Bishops as we were able to experience all sorts of things that URC folk usually do not.
We stayed in the Venerable English College and had a glimpse of what training for Catholic priesthood is like. I’m not a morning person but found the discipline of 6:45am prayer followed by mass an integral part of the experience, though it has not come home with me.
We shared communion at the Anglican Centre and met the ecumenical liaison officers of the Methodist, Anglican and Reformed Churches. We visited two of the dicastries, administrative departments, of the Holy See for Christian Unity and for Promoting the Integrity of Human Development. The latter has a focus on listening to the needs of parishes across the world, reflecting on the issues and seeing what gifts and resources can be offered and what partnerships, including ecumenical and governmental can be created. I appreciated, as I have not before, the sense of being part of the global church that came from these conversations.
We visited the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Wall and were guided round by the former abbot who included stories probably not on the usual tour! And we were the first group to visit the Scavi – the necropolis excavated under St Peter’s Basilica following a long closure for redevelopment. We were able to glimpse what might just be the bones of St Peter and had a real sense of Church history all around us.
On the Wednesday we were part of the regular audience with Pope Francis but were able to skip the queue, Bishops are the best accessory and were surprised to be given front row seats. There was a palpable air of excitement and joy. Greetings, the Bible reading and a short summary of the Pope’s reflection on it were read out in eight languages. We were entertained by a circus troupe celebrating the Pope’s current focus on children. Then without warning our group were ushered up the steps to greet Pope Francis. It was an amazing honour, albeit one that lasted about 20 seconds. We were each given a bronze papal medal – now a prized possession. if you want to see it I will probably be carrying it around for a while!. There was something very special about thousands of people worshipping God and celebrating their faith together.
Just as treasured as my medal though, is a conversation in the college chapel before breakfast between me, my Baptist colleague and a Catholic tutor about ministry where we shared appreciation of each other’s ministerial formation and how we express our faith in Jesus. It gave me hope, in this Catholic Jubilee Year of Hope that Jesus’ prayer “that they may all be one” may actually be fulfilled.
Image featuring The Pope ©Vatican Media.