PAPAL TELEGRAM FOR DEATH OF ARCHBISHOP RUNCIE

VATICAN CITY, JUL 13, 2000 (VIS) - Following is the text of the telegram sent by Pope John Paul II to The Most Rev. and Rt. Hon. George Leonard Carey, archbishop of Canterbury, for the death of his predecessor, Lord Robert Runcie, at the age of 78:

"Saddened by the news of the death of Lord Runcie, former archbishop of Canterbury, I hasten to offer my condolences to Your Grace, to the Anglican Communion and to all who are mourning the passing of your predecessor. Looking in faith to the Risen Christ, I join you in commending Archbishop Runcie to the God of all mercies, praying that he will rest in peace and rise in glory when 'death shall be no more' (Rev. 21:4). I give praise and thanks to the Most Holy Trinity for the times when we prayed together, in particular when I came to Canterbury Cathedral in 1982 and when the archbishop later came to the Church of Saint Gregory in Rome. It is my fervent hope that the memory of Archbishop Runcie will stir us all to love more deeply the past which is our common heritage and to work more eagerly for the future which is the will of Him Who is 'the faithful witness and firstborn from the dead' (Rev 1:5)."

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