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Good Morning Later today in one of Rome ancient basilicas – St. Paul’s - founded by the Roman Emperor Constantine I – representatives of the Papacy and the Crown will come together to mark a celebration. They will honour the centenary of the re-establishment of the UK’s oldest diplomatic relationship – that with the Papacy. It is a relationship like no other. Both the Crown and the Papacy are two of the oldest offices in the Western world. They are both offices of faith. Yet over the centuries the relationship has seen everything from close alliances to historic splits and hostilities. Popes excommunicated monarchs! And monarchs attempted to annihilate the Catholic faith from their lands. So it is all the more remarkable that today they are collectively celebrating their relations and building bridges where once mistrust reigned. There is much hope for us in this. This past week Pope Francis has been in Turkey. He stood with the Grand Mufti in Istanbul’s Blue Mosque where they both paused for a moment of silent adoration. He also shared the pain of many Muslims who see Western opinion increasingly associating Islam with violence. Elsewhere in Istanbul Pope Francis bowed his head and asked the leader of the world’s three hundred million Eastern Orthodox Christians to bless him and the Church of Rome. He asked that they work to heal the thousand year split between Eastern and Western Christendom. And closer to home we recall The Queen’s powerful words of healing delivered during her State Visit to Ireland in May 2011. She said, ‘with the benefit of historical hindsight we can all see things which we would wish had been done differently or not at all’. That one phrase helped to write an entirely new book in one of the most fraught relationships between neighbours the western world has known. These words and acts by a Pope and a Monarch speak for whole societies and civilisations. They challenge us to move beyond the immediate and to put the ‘here and now’ in to a wider context. Such words and acts can overcome painful histories, speak to future generations and help societies to renew and reconcile. Such words and acts can challenge us to do the same. As we pass the first week of the Advent Season in preparation for Christmas, we could examine our own lives. We could ask ourselves about our regrets and failures, and ask about what holds us back from reconciliation. Is it pride, hurt, anger? Whether it is the Pope in Turkey or the Queen in Ireland, we have powerful examples of healing and reconciliation overcoming centuries of hurt and misunderstanding. This Christmas let it be different. You too can take the risk and reconcile.