Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Fides Service) - On Thursday 22 November at 7pm at the Basilica di San Bartolomeo on the Isola Tiberina, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams and Cardinal Walter Kasper, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity will preside an ecumenical prayer service organised by the Sant’Egidio Community to commemorate seven members of the Anglican order Melanesian Brotherhood who died for the Gospel and for peace in Solomon Islands in 2003. During the Service symbols of the Melanesian Brotherhood will be presented to the Basilica di San Bartolomeo, a memorial to modern martyrs: the pilgrim’s walking stick, belt and medal bearing the image of Christ. The service is part of the Archbishop’s official visit to Pope Benedict XVI to commemorate the visit by the then Archbishop of Canterbury Michael Ramsey to Pope Paul VI 40 years ago.
In the late 1990s civil strife broke out in Solomons and many religious houses and communities offered shelter and assistance to those in need. Members of the Melanesian Brotherhood camped between the enemy lines praying with the opposing parties and asking them not to pass the barricade and to negotiate the release of hostages. In April 2003, six Melanesian Brothers set off in canoe to sail to Weather Coast to carry home the body of a confrere killed in a mission to deliver a letter to a local warlord Harold Keke to try to start peace talks. The brothers were killed by Keke militia but confirmation of their death was obtained only in August of that year. (S.L.) (Agenzia Fides 22/11/2006 - righe 18; parole 269)
