Anglican, Vatican Choirs Unite for Papal Mass

The Westminster Abbey Choir joined the pope’s personal choir on Friday for a special papal mass at the Vatican. The performance at St. Peter’s Basilica was seen as a historic event that reflected increasing unity between the Anglican Church and the Catholic Church.

The Anglican Westminster choir is perhaps the most illustrious of its kind. Last year, it performed at the wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

In 2010, it performed during Pope Benedict xvi’s visit to the abbey, and it was the pope himself who was behind the decision to invite the choirboys to Rome. The pope also specified that he wanted the Anglican choir to unite with his personal Sistine Chapel Choir, rather than alternating performances.

Today is the first time the pope’s 500-year-old choir has allowed any other group to sing with it, let alone one from the breakaway Anglican Church. Anglicans split from Rome in 1534 and historically have maintained their distance.

However, as today’s performance indicates, Pope Benedict is trying to bring Anglicans back where he thinks they belong: Rome. It is interesting to note the purpose of this special papal mass is to grant newly appointed Catholic archbishops a woolen stole, a symbol of their communion with the pope.

The symbolism, location and overtones of today’s mass are an indicator of what is coming. The Trumpet has forecast for decades that the Roman Catholic Church will bring its Protestant daughter churches back under the authority of the pope.

Pope Benedict has already taken major steps to coax conservative Anglicans back to Catholicism and will continue to do so. Watch for more signals that the Anglican Church and other Protestant churches are reuniting with Rome. To understand more, read our article “The Church That Swallowed a Church.”