Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 635

V

Iter Apostolicum Summi Pontificis in Regnum Unitum: Londinii in Aula Vestmo-

nasteriensi colloquium Benedicti XVI cum primoribus Societatis Civilis; cum doctis

vivis culturae, scientiis et operum conductioni deditis; cum Corpore Legatorum et

Religiosis Auctoritatibus.*

Mr Speaker,

Thank you for your words of welcome on behalf of this distinguished

gathering. As I address you, I am conscious of the privilege afforded me to

speak to the British people and their representatives in Westminster Hall, a

building of unique significance in the civil and political history of the people

of these islands. Allow me also to express my esteem for the Parliament which

has existed on this site for centuries and which has had such a profound

influence on the development of participative government among the na-

tions, especially in the Commonwealth and the English-speaking world at

large. Your common law tradition serves as the basis of legal systems in

many parts of the world, and your particular vision of the respective rights

and duties of the state and the individual, and of the separation of powers,

remains an inspiration to many across the globe.

As I speak to you in this historic setting, I think of the countless men and

women down the centuries who have played their part in the momentous

events that have taken place within these walls and have shaped the lives of

many generations of Britons, and others besides. In particular, I recall the

figure of Saint Thomas More, the great English scholar and statesman, who is

admired by believers and non-believers alike for the integrity with which he

followed his conscience, even at the cost of displeasing the sovereign whose

"good servant" he was, because he chose to serve God first. The dilemma

which faced More in those difficult times, the perennial question of the re-

lationship between what is owed to Caesar and what is owed to God, allows

me the opportunity to reflect with you briefly on the proper place of religious

belief within the political process.

This country's Parliamentary tradition owes much to the national in-

stinct for moderation, to the desire to achieve a genuine balance between

the legitimate claims of government and the rights of those subject to it.

* Die 17 Septembris 2010.