A WESTERN Orthodox liturgy was celebrated in the chapel of Keble College, Oxford, the Friday before last. The organisers said that it was the first time that such a liturgy had been celebrated in the UK since 1066.

The celebrant was Bishop Jerome of Manhattan, of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Philip Pughe-Morgan, a member of the new Western-rite mission, which has been introduced by the Russian Orthodox Church, said: "For the first millennium after the birth of Christ, the early Church in this country was Orthodox. . . However, Britain became separated from Orthodoxy after the Norman Conquest, when the new centralised Roman papacy took over.

"While Orthodox faith and worship are being slowly restored to Western countries, they are mainly provided through the Greek and Russian Churches. . . The Russian Church has now introduced a mission to offer worship in the form and culture of these islands."

www.westernriteorthodoxuk.org.uk