Pope rejects Runcie's vision of church leadership
From ANDREW BROWN, Religious Affairs Correspondent, in Rome
THE ARCHBISHOP of Canterbury, Dr Robert Runcie, exchanged a symbolic kiss of peace with Pope John Paul II yesterday at a mass attended by thousands in St Peter's Square, Rome.
But Dr Runcie's ideas of a limited primacy  recognising the Pope as a central figure in the Christian Church, who would exercise ' a primacy for the sake of unity and mission '  have been rejected as insufficient by the Pope.
They have also aroused Protestant anger against Dr Runcie, at the same time as he has become involved in a row over his attack on the ' Pharisees' of British society.
Though Dr Runcie and his party could not take Holy Communion at the papal mass, he had earlier celebrated the eucharist at the Anglican church in Rome after three demonstrators rose from the congregation as he ascended the pulpit; the visit has been dogged by protests from supporters of the Rev Ian Paisley.
In his sermon, Dr Runcie said: ' We should ever recognise the scandal that Anglicans and Roman Catholics must celebrate two eucharists to make one memorial of our redemption on the day of our Lord. '
Dr Runcie has gone out of his way on this visit to concede many of the doctrinal points and practices which large elements of the Church of England have traditionally found offensive in Roman Catholicism.
The Pope, too, has spoken warmly of unity.
On Saturday the two prelates attended a service of vespers at the Church of San Gregorio, which stands on the site where Pope Gregory sent St Augustine of Canterbury off to become the first Archbishop of Canterbury in 597.
But in their prepared homilies the Pope and the Archbishop addressed quite different problems.
Dr Runcie repeated his offer of a limited primacy, involving the limited powers exercised by the popes in the first few centuries of the Christian Church.
However, the Pope's account of the role of the papacy went a great deal farther than that: Christian unity, he said, must be founded on the faith in Christ that was handed on by the Apostles; what this faith is must be determined by the Roman Catholic Church.
He quoted the Second Vatican Council: ' The task of giving an authentic interpretation of the Word of God... has been entrusted to the living teaching office of the Church alone.
The specific role of bishops which is to be exercised in communion with the see of Peter in ensuring the unity and continuity of the faith is vital if we are to hand on the faith of Peter, Gregory and Augustine.
All our efforts to restore unity among Christians will be in vain if they are not carried out in total fidelity to the faith in Christ... handed on by the Apostles. '
In a statement afterwards Dr Runcie stressed that he was not proposing any change in the British constitution.
' The phrase ' universal primacy ' has a spiritual meaning.
It does not imply political supremacy, and does not suggest that the Pope should administer the affairs of the Church of England, ' he said.
Both prelates referred to the consecration in February of the Rt Rev Barbara Harris as the Anglican Assistant Bishop of Massachussetts.
Bishop Harris is quite unacceptable to the Vatican.
The Pope said: ' Events in recent years have seriously aggravated the differences between us. '
The Independent has learnt that 1,800 American Roman Catholic nuns wrote last winter to Dr Runcie, urging him to defy the Pope over the ordination of women.
Sister Margaret Traxler, of the National Coalition of American Nuns, said that she had told Dr Runcie: ' The Roman Catholic Church says this is a deterrent to unity; but we say, how can this be a deterrent to unity when discrimination against women is evil? '
She said she had received a ' friendly and brotherly ' reply from Dr Runcie.
East Germany lets 7,000 take the train west: More refugees join queue to escape through Prague and Warsaw embassies after cave-in by Berlin
From PATRICIA CLOUGH in Bonn and EDWARD LUCAS in Prague
AS SOME 7,000 exhausted but happy East Germans arrived in West Germany on special trains early yesterday, hundreds who missed the trains joined the queue to go west at embassies in Prague and Warsaw.
In Prague last night, more than 200 were allowed into the West German embassy after spending the day on the pavement outside.
Most arrived in the morning, some only minutes after Czechoslovak police sealed off the building.
The West German Ambassador, Hermann Huber, who earlier in the day told the new arrivals the transfer of 4,000 to West Germany was a ' one-off action ', appeared again to tell them: ' For the time being we are letting you in. '
Hans-Dietrich Genscher, the West German Foreign Minister, went on television to say he hoped for a ' parallel solution ' for the new arrivals.
In Warsaw, dozens of East Germans were last night waiting in front of the embassy, filling out forms and wondering where they would spend the night.
As the East German trains pulled into the border station of Hof the first refugees, many of them in tears, were greeted with cheers, applause and a local youth group singing the Beatles song ' Let It Be '.
They were welcomed by government officals, Red Cross teams with hot tea, soup and nappies, and local people with clothes and toys.
Doctors had been deeply worried about the 4,000 refugees from Prague, who had been camping in the embassy grounds in squalid conditions, surrounded by ankle-deep mud and sleeping in shifts on the available beds.
They were quickly sent on to reception camps.
Yesterday's sudden departure followed what appeared to have been an almost total cave-in by East Germany, anxious to have the matter out of the way by the country's fortieth anniversary on Saturday.
All but about 300 of the East Germans had flatly refused an offer of guaranteed permission to go to the West providing they returned to East Germany first.
So, under what appeared to be an informal deal between Bonn, Berlin, Prague and Warsaw, the special trains passed through East German territory on the way out  but with senior West German officials on board as a guarantee.
Soon afterwards the embassy in Prague was sealed off unilaterally by Czechoslovak police.
This prompted the Foreign Ministry in Bonn to lodge a protest with the Czechoslovak ambassador.
Last night, the East German Foreign Ministry issued a statement attacking the attitude of the refugees: ' Some East German citizens will justifiably ask why we let these people emigrate to West Germany via East Germany, even though they had grossly violated our laws, ' said the statement read as the main television news item.
' Among these people there are anti-social elements who have a bad attitude to work and also to normal living conditions. '
Earlier, East Germany had announced the solution as a ' humanitarian act ' by the government, adding that it hoped Bonn in future would run its embassies' in normal manner according to international usage '.
West Germany had expected around 5,000 refugees  including 809 from Warsaw, who arrived in Helmstedt  but more kept pouring from the special trains.
Hundreds had evidently gone straight to the station in Prague without contacting the embassy.
There were also reports that some had jumped on the trains as they passed through East Germany, or that the numbers could have included previously uncounted children.
Another 735 East Germans arrived by way of Hungary and Austria, bringing to 31,000 the total of East Germans who have come out since Hungary opened its borders on 11 September.
' The journey through East Germany was terrible, ' one woman said yesterday.
She feared a trap when the train stopped for 45 minutes on the way.
It turned out that East German security merely wanted to take away their identity cards so they could be formally ' expelled '.
At the Prague embassy on Saturday night, cheers greeted the news that the refugees would be leaving the same night as Mr Genscher.
Mr Genscher, who appears to have arranged the solution in talks with his East German, Czechoslovak and Polish counterparts in the United Nations, said his trip to Prague was the most moving of his career.
The refugees were the same age as he was when he escaped from East Germany 37 years ago.
In his special broadcast last night, Mr Genscher said he hoped President Gorbachev, who will visit East Berlin for the anniversary this weekend, ' will try to convince East Germany that political reforms are also in its own interest '.
Labour ' would keep tight rein on spending '
By ANTHONY BEVINS, Political Editor
JOHN SMITH, the shadow Chancellor, yesterday set the overriding tone for this week's Labour Party conference with a warning that he would impose tough spending controls if Labour won the next election.
His warning casts doubt on Labour's commitment to increase spending on ' priority ' programmes for the health service and pensions.
Mr Smith said in an interview on BBC television's On the Record that he did not expect his colleagues to ' spend and spend again' when they took office.
He conceded that there would be disputes with colleagues, but said: ' There are no quick fixes, and I will not be indulging in any quick fix.
A quick fix clearly becomes unfixed.
There are realities that I can not change.
There will be the reality of the economic situation which we inherit, which will not be our fault, but it will be our responsibility.
When we've got an economic mess, the first duty of a government is to clear up the economic mess.
' Now if that means we have to postpone some of our social ambitions, then we may have to do so.
But it will not mean that we are abandoning them.
We will tackle putting our economy in order so that we can achieve that social ambition, so that the strong economy is used to finance and develop the fair society. '
As for his colleagues, Mr Smith said: ' We're all agreed that we can not spend what we have not earned and we intend to earn it before we spend it.
That will be the guiding light of the next Labour government.
When I insist on that priority, as I can tell you I most certainly will  with the full support of the Prime Minister in doing so  then I 'm sure my colleagues will see the point of that.
' Now it is quite right of them, of course, to allow our social obligations not to be forgotten; there 'll probably be an argument.
There are in all governments between the Treasury and spending ministers.
But they will take into account the need for that balance that says that social spending without underpinning by economic growth will not be sustained in any event. '
Mr Smith's warning coincided with a call by Ken Livingstone, the Labour MP for Brent East, who said on London Weekend Television's The Walden Interview: ' You can be miles ahead in the polls, but when you get to the last three weeks, people think, ' Can I afford a Labour government? '
We need to say now what we are going to spend: where the money is going to come from. '
Mr Livingstone called for cuts in defence spending.
David Blunkett, another member of the national executive, told a conference fringe rally organised by the soft-left Labour Coordinating Committee that Labour would have to find additional funds for its social programme by cutting 9.5bn from defence spending over five years, and raising the level of taxation on the rich.
The policy review's top rate of income tax - 50 per cent  was too low, he said.
Although the policy review will be endorsed by the conference, giving Neil Kinnock the freedom to go on to the offensive against the Conservatives in the run-up to the next general election, there are a number of areas of potential conflict.
Calls for consideration of electoral reform and a new form of black representation are both expected to be defeated.
Ron Todd, the general secretary of the transport workers' union, said that today's vote on the multilaterist nuclear defence policy would not yield the ' massive and overwhelming ' majority predicted by right-wingers, and he warned that party leaders could not expect everybody to ' goose-step ' in the same direction once the policy had been carried.
The conference opened with Labour buoyed by a series of weekend opinion polls giving leads of from 5 to 12 points.
Soviet Union faces serious energy shortage
From RUPERT CORNWELL in Moscow
AN OMINOUS combination of industrial unrest, transport problems, investment cutbacks and unrelenting public suspicion over nuclear power is causing mounting problems for the Soviet energy industry.
Officials now warn that fuel supplies could be seriously disrupted this winter.
This is the last thing President Mikhail Gorbachev needs, as he tries to contain a staggering economic crisis.
But every sign now is that to shortages, inflation and a runaway budget deficit must be added serious shortfalls in output of coal, oil and nuclear energy.
The troubles of the nuclear industry in the aftermath of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986 are well known: a slowdown or halt to construction of new plants, plus the closedown earlier this year of the nuclear power station near Erevan in Armenia because of safety worries after last December's earthquake.
Now, in the space of four days, two key ministers have given bleak warnings over the state of affairs in both the oil and coal industries, the largest of their kind in the world.
In oil, the main problem is administrative disruption following last June's merger of the oil and gas industries and the switch to greater financial autonomy for individual production units, coupled with intended massive cutbacks in capital investment plans as the government seeks to balance its own books.
' The situation is desperately serious, ' the Deputy Oil Minister, Vladimir Filanovsky-Zenkov, told the Socialist Industry newspaper last week.
' The vast bulk of enterprises are not ready for change.
They do not want to operate independently because they are unable to do so. '
Oil output would be at least 12 million tonnes below the planned 1989 level of 624 million tonnes.
Over the next five years there would be shortfalls of ' tens of millions of tonnes' unless new investments came on stream, he warned almost as the government announced that capital spending in the energy sector would be slashed by 40 per cent.
The coal industry faces similar problems following last summer's strikes in the Ukraine and central Siberia.
Mikhail Shchadov, the Minister for Coal, told the Trud newspaper yesterday that so far this year, deliveries were 18.5 million tonnes less than planned, while 35 million tonnes of mined coal was lying at pitheads for want of freight rolling-stock.
But the strikes themselves have left the most disturbing legacy.
Of late ' productive and technological discipline ' had worsened.
In the Donetsk region of the Ukraine, production in September alone was a million tonnes down.
