The words of the new archbishop of Canterbury, that England recognise what it is presently doing with its Christian personality, and that he, as archbishop, personally desires fraternity with Pope Francis, are words of great hope indeed.
I visited Canterbury Cathedral in January and beheld again that awful empty space where the shrine of St Thomas Becket had been, and which the whole architecture of the building seeks to emphasise. This vacuum in Canterbury cathedral is symbolic, I think, of the dreadful emptiness which lies in our culture; that scoured out place when faith had been. Christ was planted here in this island and, as the archbishop pointed out, for a thousand years we had embraced Him. And that this emptiness is organically linked to England's rejection of unity with the Church. The archbishop's voice, calling as it does from an Impeded See, is a voice of real hope. If our country can recognise what he is speaking of and allow it to resonate, this would be a moment of grace on grace.
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