Honour for interfaith campaigner

POPE BENEDICT XVI has honoured the interfaith campaigner and charity worker Anthony Bailey in recognition of his contribution to charity and inter-religious relations in central and eastern Europe.
Mr Bailey received the insignia of Knight Grand Cross of the Pontifical Order of Pope St Sylvester (GCSS) in a ceremony held on July 17 in London and presided over by the Apostolic Nuncio to Serbia, Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro.
In his speech Archbishop Sbarbaro paid tribute to Mr Bailey’s support for charitable and interfaith projects associated with the Holy See in the region.
These projects, he said, included securing funding for the repair of churches and other places of worship destroyed by the war in the former Yugoslavia and providing material and equipment support for several hospitals and children’s homes.
Other projects were the organisation of interfaith conferences for Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders across eastern Europe and Britain and the printing of a series of interfaith publications in Serbia, Montenegro and Kosovo in several languages, as well as raising funds for other charitable purposes associated with the Church.
In his acceptance speech Mr Bailey said: “I have lived, studied and worked throughout central and eastern Europe for some 20 years since the great political upheavals of 1989 which resulted in the collapse of totalitarianism and the birth of democracy.
“With such changes came the freedom of conscience and whilst the region can be justifiably proud of the countless examples of interreligious respect, tolerance and understanding among the followers of all faiths, it has also regretfully witnessed in parts some of the worse examples of inter-religious hatred since the Second World War.
“I am delighted therefore that Pope Benedict has not only recognised my own small contribution but also the work of many of my collaborators of all faiths whom I have had the honour of working with.” Among the parliamentarians attending was Lord Brennan of Bibury, QC, president of the Catholic Union of Great Britain.
Other guests included ambassadors from such countries as Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Portugal, Serbia and Slovenia. Senior clerics from the Catholic, Anglican as well as the Greek, Bulgarian, Serbian and Syrian Orthodox churches attended together with representatives of the Muslim and Jewish communities.