Princess Anne has officially endorsed a historic friendship agreement between the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church in Scotland.
Anne, Princess Royal, formally signed the St Margaret’s Declaration at Dunfermline Abbey in Fife. The Rt Rev Dr Iain Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly and the Most Rev’d Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, co-signed the Declaration.
The Declaration (agreement) is a culmination of years of ecumenical relationship building between the two denominations, which recognise each other as brothers and sisters in Christ.
It is named after St Margaret, an 11th-century Scottish Queen buried at the abbey and was signed on St Margaret’s Day during a service to mark the abbey’s 950th anniversary.
Princess Anne was among 300 invited guests from the local community, the Kirk, ecumenical partners, civic society and heritage organisations.
She was invited as the patron of St Margaret’s Chapel Guild at Edinburgh Castle.
“This is St Margaret’s Day, and it is an important St Margaret’s message of unity and friendship that we are also celebrating here,” the princess said.
“I was honoured to be asked to be present today for the signing of the Declaration of Friendship between the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland and the Church of Scotland.
“This formalises their close bonds of friendship.
“We have been able to celebrate St Margaret today and I think her legacy has helped to bring us this declaration and I thank you all for that.
“Once again, my congratulations on this significant anniversary for the abbey and for the city of Dunfermline but also underlining the importance of what you have signed today.”
Greenshields also spoke, saying he is “deeply honoured and privileged to be one of the signatories of the St Margaret’s Declaration at Dunfermline Abbey in its 950th year and on St Margaret’s Day.
“This new friendship agreement has been many years in the making and is aptly named after a Scottish Queen who was venerated for her missionary Christian faith and her kindness and generosity to poor people.
“I would want people across Scottish society to look at this new relationship … and take away a powerful message – there is more that unites us than divides us as we strive to be an ever more united Christian voice in this land.”
Further work is needed on reconciliation, with both denominations acknowledging some divisions remain challenging.
In his sermon, Cushley said: “The Declaration is a consciously new approach to ecumenism, an attempt to re-imagine the path towards Christian unity.”
It chooses to focus on what we have in common … much that is inspiring and ancient, profound and beautiful.
“We stand shoulder to shoulder before an unbelieving world …
“And if St Margaret and the first men who came here nearly a thousand years ago were here with us now, I would like to think that they would welcome and approve …
“In friendship, to face the next thousand years … as sisters and brothers and friends in Jesus Christ.”
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