REPRESENTATIVES from all the Christian denominations of Beccles will come together next week to celebrate the centenary of the consecration of St Benet's Minister.

REPRESENTATIVES from all the Christian denominations of Beccles will come together next week to celebrate the centenary of the consecration of St Benet's Minister.

And St Benet's will also welcome one of the most important figures in today's Catholic Church to share the occasion- the Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Westminster.

A week on Saturday, July 5, St Benet's will be holding their Fete of Faiths, a fun event designed to bring all the Christian groups in the town together to celebrate the church's consecration, which took place on July 12, 1908.

In the morning the Cardinal will hold a mass of thanksgiving at St Benet's before joining the fete in the afternoon, and St Benet's will be presenting him with a commemorative wine glass, with the crests of both St Benet's and the Cardinal printed on the glass.

The glass was made by Beccles parishioner Stephen Bradley, who runs a glass blowing factory in Devon.

“Every Christian denomination is coming to the fete,” said Father Antony Sutch of St Benet's. “It's an opportunity to reach out to the good old days where we were all Christians together. It's a chance to say we've got so much in common, why do we emphasise what's different? The Church is a place where we should come together in peace and love.”

The thanksgiving mass will feature a paten from 1470, donated for the occasion by Barsham Church. The paten dates back to before the Reformation and so represents a time when the Christian churches were unified- a fitting symbol for the Fete of Faiths.

“It would have been used before the Protestant and Catholic Church divided,” explained Father Antony Sutch. “An enormous amount was later destroyed by Cromwell and a lot of this stuff was melted down, and how it survived I don't know.”

The fete, which will take place from 11.15am to 4pm, will involve country dancing from children at St Benet's School, live jazz music, children's entertainment, stalls and a barbecue.

And the Cardinal, who is one of only 130 cardinals in the world, compared with 1.7 billion Catholics, will be on hand to chat to people at the fete in the afternoon, before he has to fly to Australia for World Youth Day.

Father Antony said: “He's the top man, it's the first time ever that the Catholic church of Beccles has received anyone of this importance.

“He's a really gentle and good man who enjoys celebrating positively.”