In Rome, on Wednesday 10th May 2017, at the conclusion of the General Papal Audience, the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, the Right Reverend Dr Paul Colton, had the honour of being presented to His Holiness Pope Francis.

Bishop Colton said:

It was an immense honour to attend the General Papal Audience on Wednesday 10th May. To say that I was surprised to be given a seat at the front, with 5 bishops also visiting from other churches (from the U.S.A., Scotland, Russia and Assyria), and to be presented to and to speak with His Holiness Pope Francis, would be an understatement. In the course of our brief conversation I brought him greetings from Cork, Cloyne and Ross. I also said to him I hope that, if he comes to Ireland, he will come to Cork! I am very grateful to Bishop John Buckley and his office, particularly Dr Tom Deenihan, for arranging to make all this possible.

Photograph © L’Osservatore Romano

Bishop  Colton was in Rome to attend a reunion, later that day at the Venerable English College, of the Colloquium of Anglican and Roman Catholic Canon Lawyers.  Anglican participants in the reunion who attended the General Audience on Wednesday morning were: Professor Norman Doe (Director of the Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University), Professor Mark Hill, Q.C. (Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff University), Stephen Slack and Sion Hughes Carew (both of the Church of England legal office), the Reverend Russell Dewhurst, the Reverend Stephen Farrell, and Archdeacon Jane Steen.