Hume backs Carey to lead nation in prayer

BY LUKE COPPEN
CARDINAL HUME called for the Archbishop of Canterbury to lead the nation in prayer at the dawn of the new Millennium, during the first encounter between the two men since the Cardinal dismissed claims that he held Dr Carey in low regard.
Speaking at an an ecumenical service in London on Tuesday to mark the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity, the Cardinal said: "Would it not be quite wrong if the Archbishop of Canterbury were not seen and heard to be leading the nation in prayer at midnight when the new Millennium begins? We should press for this."
The Cardinal urged Christians to put Christ first for the Millennium. "If we do not put Christ at the centre of the celebration then we risk making that celebration no more than a commercial extravaganza or a celebration of human achievement," he said. "It is the birth of Christ which we shall be celebrating. The Crib will always be more important than the Dome."
The service, organised by Churches Together in England, brought together for the first time the CTE's four presidents in an act of common worship.
• The Merseyside and Regional Churches Ecumenical Assembly has called on the new Liverpool office of the Democratic Unionist Party to respect the healing of sectarian divisions in the city achieved in recent years.
Editorial Comment —p9 Ian Paisley Jnr—p8 Lamb's Passage—p9