Mary a source of unity says cardinal

THE Virgin Mary should be a source of unity among Christians, not of divergence, the primate of Ireland told pilgrims at Walsingham at the weekend. Cardinal Cahal Daly, leading the Dowry of Mary pilgrimage to the Norfolk shrine, said that Christ's mother could be " an agent of unity and peace in Europe and the world" and not a figure who divides Catholics and Protestants. The cardinal quoted Martin Luther who wrote " it is an article of faith that Mary is the mother of the Lord and still a virgin" to back up his argument. He also referred to Calvin and Zwingli, with Luther the "founding fathers of the reformation", who both accepted the traditional view of Mary. Cardinal Daly spoke also of the changing face of today's Europe. While identifying the dangers to the European peace posed by events in Yugoslavia and the continuing troubles in Northern Ireland, he drew attention to the new hope provided by events in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe in the past two years.