We wish to express our deepest sympathy to Her Majesty the Queen and members of the Royal Family as they mourn the loss of His Royal Highness Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh.

We still cherish the memories of the visit of Her Majesty and the Duke more than a decade ago to the Anglican Centre in Rome. 

 

After meeting Pope John Paul II at the Vatican, Queen Elizabeth II visited the Anglican Centre in Rome, on 17 October, 2000, at 12.30 p.m.

There she was welcomed by Anglican clergy working in Rome, and also by Cardinal Cassidy, President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity, Presbyterian, Methodist and Waldensian friends of the Anglican Centre, representatives of the Centro Pro Unione, the Community of S. Egidio, the Lay Centre in Rome, leading members of the ecumenical academic community, and members of the Doria Pamphilj family.

To mark the occasion of the Queen's first visit to the Anglican Centre, Bishop Baycroft, Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome, presented Her Majesty with a special leather-bound edition of "The Gift of Authority", the most recent document published by the Anglican Roman Catholic International Commission (ARCIC). In this little book ARCIC proposes steps to bring the Anglican Communion and Roman Catholic Church closer to their goal of full visible unity.

We assure Her Majesty the Queen and her family of our prayers and thoughts at this time of their bereavement. 

 

May Prince Philip rest in peace and rise in glory.