The Catholic news site, CruxNow, reported that the parish priest of the fire damaged St Andrew’s Anglican church in Leicester had most unexpectedly received a letter of support from the Vatican!
The letter from Archbishop Paolo Rudelli, Substitute for General Affairs at the Secretariat of State of the Holy See, said Pope Leo XIV “was saddened” by news of the fire and sent “the assurance of his spiritual solidarity to all those affected.” It went on: “With hope that services can return to the church as soon as possible, His Holiness prays that the response to this disastrous event will strengthen the community and bring about a renewal in the life of the parish”.
Apparently the letter had come about because the Anglican priest, the Rev Johannes Arens, had a friend who worked at the Catholic Dicastery for Christian Unity. The friend had asked if there was anything he could do to help, and Fr Arens responded by saying what they really needed now was exposure as they needed to raise a lot of money. And somehow or other, the news ended up on the Pope’s desk!
Read the story at CruxNow here.
Picture above: St Andrew’s church, Leicester after the fire on 28th July.