Press releases

Pope Benedict will be visiting Birmingham on 19 September 2010 as part of his state visit to the United Kingdom. The Birmingham leg will be centred on the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman at Cofton Park, Birmingham.

Cofton Park is adjacent to Rednal, the site where Cardinal Newman is buried.  Pope Benedict will hold the Beatification Mass ceremony at the Park in front of 70,000 pilgrims. Beatification is a step on the road to canonisation, which is when a person is made a saint. Cardinal Newman will be the first English person to begin the journey to canonisation since the 14th century.  

To find out more about the Beatification Mass, visit www.visitbirmingham.com .

To celebrate the Papal Visit to Birmingham, there will be a
series of events open to the public:

Newman Display
10 September-6 January 2011
Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery

There will be a display at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery in celebration of the beatification.  It will include art from the city’s collections and memorabilia kindly loaned by the Birmingham Oratory.

For further information click here.

The Dream of Gerontius
18 September
Birmingham Town Hall

This exclusive and historic performance of Elgar’s ‘The Dream of Gerontius on the eve of the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman, will be attended by Bishops and dignitaries from around the world.

The internationally acclaimed, Ex Cathedra XL Choir and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE), will the oratorio to celebrate the beatification by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI of Cardinal Newman.  The oratorio of 'The Dream Gerontius' sets Cardinal Newman's text into a composition by Elgar and was completed in 1900, first being performed at the Birmingham Triennial Festival that year.

Ticket prices: £50 and £75

For further information click here.

The Pope’s Astronomer on Discarded Images:
Astronomical ideas that were almost correct...
18 September 2010
On 18 September the British Science Festival will host the Pope's Astronomer, Dr Brother Guy Consolmagno, as part of the ‘Life, the Universe and everything’ lectures.

Astronomy is more than just observing; it's making sense of those observations. A good theorist needs a good imagination... and no fear of being wrong. Many eminent scientists rose to the challenge; and they were all almost correct. Which is to say, they were wrong... sometimes hilariously, sometimes heartbreakingly so. What lessons can 21st century astronomers take from these discarded images?  

Aston University, Tickets: £3, Time: 13:00 - 14:00

For more information visit:
http://www.britishscienceassociation.org or click here