Historians Organize Petition to Inter Richard III with Catholic Rites - Eponymous Flower

[Michael]

Historians Organize Petition to Inter Richard III with Catholic Rites

Edit:  Why not the Sarum Rite?  We were one of the first, if not the first, to suggest that a Catholic Bishop say the Sarum Rite to reinter Richard III. Archbishop Conti is familiar with the Sarum Rite.

Petition is organised by historians whose efforts led to the discovery of the king's remains

Three thousand people have signed a petition calling for Richard III to be given a Catholic burial.

The petition, addressed to Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the Archbishop of Westminster, is being organised by the historians whose efforts led to the king’s remains being found under a car park in Leicester.

Under present plans Richard III, who died in the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, before the Reformation, will be buried at the Anglican cathedral in Leicester on March 26.

But Philippa Langley, leader of the Looking for Richard project, said the burial should take into account Richard III’s Catholic faith.

She said: “It seems this former king and head of state is to be treated as a scientific specimen right up to and including the point at which he is laid in his coffin.”

Dr John Ashdown-Hill, a historian who worked to identify the bones, has also called for a Catholic burial, saying: “There is a lot of evidence that Richard III had a very serious personal faith. If Richard III had not have died, maybe the Anglican church would never have existed.”

However, a joint statement by Leicester Cathedral and the Catholic Diocese of Nottingham said these concerns were “fundamentally misplaced”.

The statement said: “There is no requirement in the Catholic tradition for prayers to be said at the coffining of human remains, including those of a monarch. The arrangements agreed between the university and the cathedral have the full support of the Catholic Church.”

Ecumenical services will surround the event, with Cardinal Nichols preaching a service of compline on the day the king’s remains are received into the cathedral.

The cardinal will also celebrate a Requiem Mass the next day at a nearby Catholic parish.

Historians Organize Petition to Inter Richard III with Catholic Rit...