Archbishop Nichol leads thanksgiving service for Chilean miners' rescue

Archbishop Nichols, HE Tomas Müller Sproat with his wife, Claudia Bobadilla

Archbishop Vincent Nichols celebrated a service of thanksgiving on Friday 12 November, in Westminster Cathedral, for the rescue of the 33 Chilean Miners who were rescued on 13 October 2010 after being trapped underground for over two months.

In his homily, Archbishop Nichols praised the Chilean people saying: "In these remarkable days of the crisis and the rescue, Chile showed its soul to the world: a soul of noble courage and of steadfast Christian faith. In this, Chile has witnessed to the world. For this we are all very grateful."

He went on to ask what the British people could learn from "this marvellous narrative of courage and grace". Archbishop Nichols said: "As a nation we here in Britain are facing our own problems, as are many other countries. Our problems are of our own making: many years of spending what we had not earned and of taking risks with what was not our own. Now we have to learn to work together in these difficulties, moving beyond the lessons of recent decades which insisted that we do best by putting self interest first. Now we must embrace instead a genuine commitment to the good of others."

The service was attended by members of the Chilean community in London and the Chilean Ambassador to the UK, HE Tomas Müller Sproat. In an address at the end of the service the ambassador thanked the UK for its support and offers of assistance during the rescue.