Grand Magistral Delegate Anthony Bailey weds Princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg. Salzburg – October 2007.
 The Council of the Grand Magistral Delegation for Inter-Religious Relations extends its heartiest congratulations to the Delegate, HE Mr Anthony Bailey, on the occasion of his marriage to HSH Princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg. The marriage took place at the Archabbey of St Peter’s in Salzburg, Austria, on 27 October 2007.
The Nuptial Mass will be concelebrated by HE Archbishop Eugenio Sbarbaro, Apostolic Nuncio to Serbia. (Chief Celebrant), together with THE Rt Rev George Stack, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and representing the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster, the Rt Rev Thomas Burns, Bishop of HM Armed Forces, His Grace Edmund Wagenhofer, Archabbot of St Peter’s and Father Michael Seed from Westminster Cathedral. Several Papal Knights were in attendance.
A number of senior ecumenical leaders will also be present including His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain representing His Holiness The Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew I, The Right Honourable and Right Reverend Lord Carey of Clifton, former Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, His Eminence Archbishop Athanasius Toma Dawod representing His Holiness Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head, Syriac Orthodox Universal Church.
Apostolic Blessings for the couple will be read out during the Nuptial Mass which were sent by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch, His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and His Holiness Ignatius Zakka I Iwas, Patriarch of Antioch and All the East, Supreme Head, Syriac Orthodox Universal Church.
Delegate attends Loss of a Religious Heritage exhibition. London – July 2007.
At the invitation of Delegation Knight, His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Order of Francis I, and Head of the Greek Orthodox Church in Britain, the Delegate for Inter-Religious Understanding, HE Anthony Bailey, attended the opening ceremony at Westminster Cathedral Hall of a photographic exhibition entitled “The Loss of a Religious Heritage in occupied Northern Cyprus 1974-2007’.
Among others attending were senior religious clergy, HE The High Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprusand senior representatives of the Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain.
Delegate meets with the Secretary General of the Arab League. London – July 2007.
 The Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, Mr Anthony Bailey attended a reception hosted by the Council for Arab-British Understanding and met with the Secretary General of the Arab League of States, His Excellency Mr Amr Moussa.
Delegate attends Portuguese Embassy Reception. London- July 2007.
 The Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, Mr Anthony Bailey attended a reception hosted by the Ambassador of Portugal, HE Dr Antonio Santana Carlos, to mark the start of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union. The Minister of Europe, Jim Murphy MP attended.
Delegate attends Slovenian and Croatian National Day Receptions. London - June 2007.
 
The Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, Mr Anthony Bailey attended a reception to mark the National Day of Slovenia, hosted by HE The Ambassador on 14 June 2007 and the National Day of Croatia hosted by HE The Ambassador of Croatia on 28 June 2007.
Constantinian Order to host Bulgarian Inter-Faith Delegation. London – June 2007.
The Grand Magistral Delegation for Inter-Religious Relations and the Delegation for Great Britain and Ireland of the Constantinian Order will host the first ever exchange visit of Bulgarian Christian, Muslim and Jewish leaders to the UK from 20-22 June 2007.
  
The two day visit will include a delegation of the leaders of the Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Protestant Muslim and Jewish communities in Bulgaria. A conference will be held in Central London on 21 June 2007 from 10am-2pm at St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and Peace in the presence of leading British religious figures including the Delegation’s Sub Prior, The Rt Rev Bishop George Stack of Westminster, His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain, and leaders of Britain’s Anglican, Muslim and Jewish communities.
The British Prime Minister will be represented by his envoy to the faith communities, The Rt Hon John Battle, MP and the Constantinian Order by the Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, HE Mr Anthony Bailey.
The visit has been organised by the Constantinian Order in conjunction with the Bulgarian Embassy in London, St Ethelburga's Centre for Reconciliation and the Three Faith Forum. To make the occasion both the British and Bulgarian Prime Ministers sent messages of congratulations welcoming the initiative so soon after the Balkan nation’s recent accession to the European Union. To download the message click here.
Admission is free and if you wish to attend please contact Brannie Nacheva 020 7591 0619 or bnacheva@constantinian.org.uk.
Having Faith in Foreign Policy.
 
The Foreign Policy Centre and the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George are delighted to invite you to attend the launch of the new report, ‘Having Faith in Foreign Policy’. This collection of essays brings together faith leaders and intellectuals to discuss, debate and attempt to answer some of the most vexed questions of our age: what is the relationship between religion and the state in a post-modern society; what is the interaction between faith, conflict and development and how can governments and leaders reach out to citizens who may feel disengaged from foreign policy? Following the speeches will be a Question & Answer session.
Speakers: The Rt Hon John Battle MP, Prime Minister’s Envoy to the Faith Communities, The Rt Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, Anglican Bishop of Rochester,
Anthony Bailey KCSS, Chief Policy Adviser, Foreign Policy Centre, Urmee Khan of The Guardian. Chair: Richard Stone.
Date: Wednesday 6 June 2007. Time: 2pm to 4pm. Venue: Committee Room 10, House of Commons, SW1A 0AA (Please use St Stephen’s Entrance). RSVP: events@fpc.org.uk.
Grand Magistral Delegate attends reception honouring Templeton winner Prof. Charles Taylor. London – May 2007.
The Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, Anthony Bailey attended a reception honouring the 2007 winner of the Templeton Prize for Progress toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities, Professor Charles Taylor.
The event was hosted by The Trustees of the John Templeton Foundation. Former recipients of the prize include the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Sir Sigmund Sternberg and Dr Inamullah Kahn, peace activist and founder of the Modern World Muslim Congress.
Prof Taylor, 75, is a Canadian philosopher who devoted more than 45 years of research into the role of spirituality in secular society and is considered by many as “one of the great voices of wisdom of today”. The award was presented by HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.
Grand Magistral Delegate attends Parliamentary Friends of Islam event. London – April 2007.
The Grand Magistral Delegate Anthony Bailey attended a Forum entitled “Promoting the talents of Muslim Women” organised by the All-Party Parliamentary Group “The Friends of Islam”. The aim of the event was to encourage the economic development of women in Muslim communities in the UK and will look at encouraging Muslim women into further education and to develop their career potential.
“This forum is important because it looks to encourage the talents of Muslim women in the UK to take a positive role in building a stronger and socially cohesive Britain” said Christine McCafferty ,MP.
The Forum was held at the government’s Portcullis House in Westminster and brought together around 200 guests, including Muslim MPs Khalid Mahmood and Shahid Malik.
The Forum’s panellists included Christine McCafferty, MP, HH Sheikha Hissha Saad Al Sabah of Kuwait, Chair of the Arab Business Women’s Council; Sayeeda Warsi, business Chair of the UK Conservative Party; Mah Hussain Gambles, the Board Chairwoman of Saaf International and Yasmin Ali, a member of the UK Youth Parliament.
Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations attends Lambeth Palace Lecture honouring the late Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi. London – April 2007.
HE Mr Anthony Bailey, the Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, attended the first annual lecture in memory of the late Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi, KBE, which was delivered by His Grace the Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, on 26 April 2007 at Lambeth Palace in London. The event was organised by the Association of Muslim Social Scientists.
The lecture was entitled “Islam, Christianity and Pluralism” and it focused on the attitudes of Christians and Muslims towards pluralism both as a religious thesis, and as a social and political reality. The Archbishop of Canterbury and the late Sheikh Dr Zaki Badawi were invested in the Royal Order of Francis I some years ago in recognition of their contribution to inter-religious understanding.
“A Night Under The Stars” Charity Concert in aid of The Passage to take place on 7 November 2007 at Central Hall in Westminster.
The British & Irish Delegation is pleased to announce that this year’s charity concert “A Night Under the Stars” in aid of our adopted charity The Passage will take place at 7:30pm on 7 November at Central Hall in Westminster. The last five concerts have raised nearly half a million pounds for The Passage to help continue its humanitarian mission of assisting homeless people to get back into society.
 The evening will once again be a superb mixture of music, songs and performances from the country's most original musicians and comedians. Stars who have previously appeared include Sir Roger Moore, Sir Donald Sinden, opera divas Dame Ann Murray and Maria Ewing, as well as pop stars like Darius. Comedian Rory Bremner has also starred in almost every show. In this year’s concert there will be some surprising new artists as well as some of the old stars.
The guests of honour at the evening will be HRH Princess Michel of Kent and His Eminence Cormac, Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor, Archbishop of Westminster.
The pre-concert reception and the post-concert champagne reception will take place at The Banqueting House in Whitehall.
For tickets and booking information please telephone The Passage directly on 020 7592 1856 or visit their website: www.passage.org.uk.
Grand Magistral Delegate attended Royal Opening of the “Sacred” exhibition at the British Library. London – April 2007.
 HE The Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, Mr Anthony Bailey, attended the Royal Opening of the “Sacred: Discover what we share” exhibition at London’s British Library. The opening ceremony was presided over by Sir Colin Lucas, Chairman of the British Library, in the presence of HRH The Duke of Edinburgh and HRH Prince Moulay Rashid of Morocco. Many Knights of the dynastic orders attended the ceremony including His Eminence Cormac-Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop of Westminster, and HE Mr Mohamed Belmahi, Ambassador to the Court of St James’s of HM The King of Morocco.
The exhibition presents some of the world’s earliest-surviving, most important and beautiful religious texts from the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths. This groundbreaking exhibition is funded by donors representative of all three faiths, including the Coexist Foundation, The Moroccan British Society and Saint Catherine Foundation.
Rare and exquisite examples from the Library’s collections - considered to be one of the greatest in the world – will be presented alongside treasures on loan from other institutions. These include three Qur’ans from Morocco’s Royal Library in Marrakech, as well as other loans from its national collections.
Many of the lavishly illustrated or decorated books and manuscripts have never, or seldom, been on public display while others will be on show for the first time in the UK. Sacred also marks the first time that texts from these three faiths will have been displayed and explored together, side-by-side, in a major UK exhibition.
The British Library’s Chief Executive, Lynne Brindley, said: “We present this exhibition as a contribution to the greater understanding of these three faiths, their historical roots, and their significance in the world today. As one of the world’s great libraries, we invite everyone - of faith or no faith - to come, to think, to debate and to learn. It is also an opportunity to marvel at the beauty of the texts and to gain greater understanding of their contemporary relevance.”
Sacred sees priceless examples of the Torah, New Testament and Qur’an mounted alongside each other – not individually in separate zones. The texts are treated thematically, exploring points in common, looking at the ways in which they have been produced, interpreted and used. By integrating material in this way, the exhibition demonstrates how these faiths have interacted and influenced one another, and will enable visitors to learn about all three alongside each other.
The exhibition explores inter faith attitudes in the UK both today and in the past and takes a look at community and schools projects from around Britain. The exhibition is open from 27 April 2007 to 23 September 2007, every day. Admission to the exhibition is free and timed tickets are in operation. Advance booking is recommended. Bookings can be made online at boxoffice.bl.uk, by calling 01937 546546 or in person at the British Library. Further information is available on the Library’s website at www.bl.uk.
The President of Bulgaria bestows high award on Delegate Anthony Bailey. Sofia – March 2007.
 His Excellency Georgi Parvanov, President of the Republic of Bulgaria, has bestowed one of his country’s highest honours on the Constantinian Order’s Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, HE Mr Anthony Bailey.
By Presidential Decree of 7 March 2007, which was counter signed by Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, the Bulgarian Head of State awarded the First Class Grade of the Order of the Madara Horseman to Mr Anthony Bailey in recognition of his 18 years contribution to furthering and strengthening British-Bulgarian relations. Bulgaria acceded to the European Union in January 2007.
Mr Bailey studied Eastern and Central European History and Politics at the University of London from 1988-1991. He also studied Bulgarian language and literature at Sofia and Veliko Turnovo Universities in Bulgaria. Since 1991 Anthony Bailey has advised successive Bulgarian Governments on bilateral foreign affairs, trade and cultural issues. He has also hosted events on the occasion of visiting Bulgarian dignitaries to the United Kingdom most recently for President Georgi Parvanov in 2006 and Prime Minister Simeon Sax-Coburg-Gotha in 2002.
In the summer of 2007, the Constantinian Order will partner with other British religious groups and organisations to co-ordinate a high level visit of the Bulgarian religious leaders to London and the North of England.
Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations meets The Amir of Kuwait. London – February 2007.
 On the occasion of the Official Visit to the United Kingdom, the Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, HE Mr Anthony Bailey ,attended a reception in honour of, and met with, His Highness Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Amir of the State of Kuwait. The reception at the Kuwaiti Residence in London was hosted by the Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to the Court of St James’s, His Excellency Mr Khaled Al-Duwaisan, GCVO. Ambassador Al-Duwaisan has been a strong supporter of inter-religious initiatives at home and abroad.
Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations meets the Prime Minister of Bulgaria. London – February 2007.
 HE Mr Anthony Bailey, the Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, attended a reception in honour of, and met with His Excellency Mr Sergei Stanishev, Prime Minister of the Republic of Bulgaria on the occasion of the Official Visit to the United Kingdom. Bulgaria became a full member of the European Union on 1 January 2007.
The reception at the Bulgarian Embassy in London was hosted by the Ambassador of the Republic of Bulgaria to the Court of St James’s, His Excellency Dr Lachezar Matev. The Ambassador, who is a Knight Commander of the Royal Order of Francis I, has been a strong advocate of inter-religious initiatives at home and abroad. During early summer 2007 it is expected that an inter-religious conference will be hosted by the Order in Britain attended by leading Bulgarian and British religious leaders.
Grand Magistral Delegate attends dinner in honour of Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I. London - January 2007.
 HE Mr Anthony Bailey, Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, attended a dinner in honour of His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Archbishop of Constantinople, New Rome and Ecumenical Patriarch of the Orthodox Church. His All Holiness, who resides in Istanbul, recently received His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his State Visit to the Republic of Turkey in what was heralded as a significant inter-religious occasion between the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches.
The event was hosted by His Eminence Archbishop Gregorios of Thyateira and Great Britain. The dinner took place at a central London hotel in the presence of leading religious, state and diplomatic figures. Among the Roman Catholics attending were HE The Apostolic Nuncio and His Grace The Archbishop of Southwark.
To download His All Holiness's speech click here.
British and Irish Delegate congratulates predecessor on his engagement. London – January 2007.
 The Delegate for Great Britain and Ireland, HE The Rt Hon Lord Brennan of Bibury, QC, extended to his congratulations to his predecessor, Mr Anthony Bailey, now Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, on the occasion of his engagement to HSH Princess Marie-Therese von Hohenberg, daughter of HSH Prince Peter von Hohenberg and HSH Princess Christine von Hohenberg of Austria.
Delegate attends reception to mark Romania’s hosting of the European Ecumenial Christian Assembly. London – February 2007.
 The Grand Magistral Delegate for Inter-Religious Relations, Mr Anthony Bailey, together with a group of Constantinian Knights and Dames attended a reception hosted by Mrs Raduta Matache, Charge d’Affaires of the Republic of Romania and Sir Sigmund Sternberg, Founder of the Three Faiths Forum, to publicise the forthcoming European Ecumenical Christian Assembly which will take place in Sibiu, Romania in September 2007.
The European Ecumenical Assembly is organised jointly by the Conference of European Churches and the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conferences in Europe. It provides an opportunity for Christians from the different churches in Europe to meet, recognize their common traditions and background and enhance ecumenical cooperation in the new Europe of the 21st century. The town of Sibiu was also named 2007’s Cultural Capital of Europe by the Ministers of Culture of the European Union.
HE The President of Romania Mr Traian Bãsescu sent a congratulatory massage on the occasion affirming Romania’s eagerness to continue its political and religious contribution now as a full member of the European Union: “The new European context and its numerous challenges will give Romania the opportunity to confirm its European vocation and to strengthen its determination in the pursuit of democracy and religious tolerance.”
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