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Cardinal's sermon to the Royals ends taboo

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor yesterday became the first senior member of the Catholic hierarchy to preach to the Royal Family in an Anglican church since the Reformation.

The Cardinal, Archbishop of Westminster, gave a sermon calling for Christian unity to a 200-strong congregation including the Duke of Edinburgh and the Earl and Countess of Wessex, at St Mary's Church at Sandringham, Norfolk.

The move could help to pave the way for members of the Royal Family to marry Catholics, banned under the 1701 Act of Settlement.

Meanwhile, the Bishop of Rochester, the Right Rev Dr Michael Nazir-Ali, who is among the favourites to take over as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, said yesterday he believed racism lay behind a smear campaign against him.

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