Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerant People

People on the Move

N° 99 (Suppl.), December 2005

Greetings

from H.E. John FLACK

Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome

and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to the Holy See 

Your Eminence,

Brothers in Christ, 

I speak to you this morning as the Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome and the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Representative to Holy See. I bring you all fraternal greetings from the Archbishop himself, His Grace the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Rowan Williams. This is his message for us today: 

“The Anglican Church has a long history of ministry to Circus and Travelling people both within the United Kingdom and across the globe, thanks to the perseverance of some pioneering clergy. They believe, as I do, that just as the ancient Jewish people of the Old Testament were under God’s protection as they travelled through the wilderness, so we must make certain that today’s travellers are under his protection also. There is no place in God’s kingdom for ethnic or racial persecution. All human beings are made in the image and likeness of God, and reveal his glory in themselves. This is as true for travelling people as it is for us. The Church must always remember this. 

“May God’s presence be with you in your deliberations at this special International Congress, and may Jesus Christ, the Advent Hope, light the way ahead for us all ”.

                                                + Rowan Williams       

                                                 Archbishop of Canterbury