Catholic Roots of the Site of Royal Wedding

Admittedly, I’m not a huge fan of the royal wedding. Maybe it’s simply because I’m not British. I am, however, attracted to it insofar as it’s a spectacle which offers plenty of fodder for commentary. [ e.g, why they’re spending a fortune (roughly just a little more than the average price of three weddings in the US) to turn Westminster Abbey into an indoor forest.]

But there are more interesting topics. Msgr. Campion has a recent article in Our Sunday Visitor discussing the Catholic history of Westminster Abbey, the church where the royal wedding will take place tomorrow.

I had no idea that it was originally a Benedictine Monastery dedicated to St. Peter.

Couple of interesting facts:

– [A]lmost every king or queen of England has been crowned in the church, the last being Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.

– Last year, Pope Benedict XVI joined the Anglican archbishop of Canterbury at evensong (Anglican vespers) in Westminster abbey.

While I won’t be staying up late to catch the royal wedding live, I wish them well and certainly do not envy them their public life. (For more on that, Christopher Hitchens’ Slate piece is a must read.)

But I am planning my evening schedule tonight around the newest episodes of “The Office” (Is this Michael’s good-bye?) and “30 Rock.” (Can’t wait to see Condoleezza Rice guest star.) I know, there’s no accounting for taste.

And I’ll be pulling an all-nighter Saturday night to watch JP2’s beatification.