Scottish Catholic Observer

PAPAL visit organisers in Scotland are asking for ‘patience’ and ‘cooperation’ from the tens of thousands of pilgrims heading to Glasgow next Thursday to join Pope Benedict XVI in the joyful celebration of Mass at Bellahouston Park.

Full details of the Mass, including travel arrangements, will reach all parishes and pilgrim groups by this weekend and, although ‘they might not be what people had expected,’ Mgr Peter Smith of Glasgow Archdiocese said that every effort is being made to accommodate the needs of pilgrims.

Transport to Bellahouston

“We are trying to make travel to and from the park as easy as possible by using as many means of transport as we can,” Mgr Smith told the SCO this week. “As the Holy Father is arriving on a working and a school day, however, 80 per cent of Scotland’s buses are not available to us.”

This has led to ‘imaginative solutions’ he said, including a walking plan for local parishes, the use of public transport, shuttle buses from Buchanan Street Bus Station and long distance coaches to be parked on the M77 on the day.

In addition to their mode of transportation, each parish is being given a time to travel, an arrival time at Bellahouston and a departure time to help ensure a safe and staggered flow of traffic throughout the city and the country. The pre and post-Mass programme in place to entertain pilgrims while they wait includes performances by Susan Boyle.

Mgr Smith added that transport arrangements hinged on ensuring that the 10,000 secondary school pupils coming to the Mass from throughout the country are catered for, and therefore travel plans could only be finalised after the school term began in mid-August.

Separate arrangements are being made for disabled pilgrims to help them get to and from their transport and into the park.

Mgr Smith praised Stagecoach, Scotrail and SPT for their role in the revised transport plans for pilgrims and highlighted that inconveniencing parishioners in Glasgow, and to a certain extent Motherwell and Paisley, was required to ensure that the rest of the country’s pilgrims make it to the Mass celebrations.

“This is a pilgrimage,” he said. “Inevitably there will be some difficulties and hardships, but the Mass at Bellahouston is going to be great.”

Seeing the Holy Father

Prior to the beginning of the Mass at 5.15pm pilgrims will have the opportunity to see Pope Benedict up close as he processes through the park in the Popemobile. Half an hour before the Mass begins the Holy Father will tour the park in a figure-of-eight route, passing by each of the 27 designated zones where pilgrims will congregate.

The Papal Mass will be simultaneously broadcast on large video screens at Bellahouston and will also be signed for the deaf.

Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow Archdiocese has said that it will be an ‘immense privilege’ for the archdiocese to host the Pope at Bellahouston and, in his homily at the national pilgrimage to Carfin on Sunday, spoke of his excitement ahead of the Mass.

“There are many among us who can recall Pope John Paul’s visit in June 1982, and who expect to create a bridge of memory between that event and the one we anticipate [in a week’s time] when the slopes of Bellahouston Park will be blessed once more by the footsteps of the Vicar of Christ.

“I can never recall Bellahouston 1982 without seeming to hear again the words of the hymn with which the Mass concluded: ‘How lovely on the Mountains are the feet of him who brings good news—announcing peace, proclaiming news of happiness—our God reigns!’

“These words will echo anew at Bellahouston since our Mass on September 16 will commence with this hymn.”

Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley Diocese, president of the communications commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, also spoke this week—expressing his hope that the people of Scotland will give the Holy Father a ‘great welcome’ on his arrival.

“Pope Benedict XVI will be with us in Scotland very soon,” Bishop Tartaglia said. “I encourage you to go out and give the Holy Father a great welcome in the streets of Edinburgh and at the Bellahouston Park Papal Mass in Glasgow.

“This will be a unique encounter on our home soil with the Successor of Peter, chosen to be, for our times, the ‘rock’ on which the Lord continues to build His Church. Our presence at this event can be rightly regarded as a pilgrimage of faith and prayer. May it be a great day of joy and praise!”

Similarly Cardinal O’Brien, the UK’s most senior Catholic clergyman and president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said this week that he is ‘looking forward intensely’ to the Holy Father’s arrival and praised those involved in preparations that are going ‘extremely well.’

“Obviously as with any major event in any country there are hiccups and ups and downs but I’m delighted at the way in which everyone has worked together,” he said. “We realise so much has already been done by so many great people preparing for the visit and I’m just hoping that the final last touches will be put in place before the Holy Father arrives.”

Bishop Joseph Toal of Argyll and the Isles Diocese (top right) has been helping to prepare the Liturgy for the Mass and, following extensive preparations, is looking forward to a successful day next Thursday.

“I would like to thank all who have taken part in preparing for the Mass, especially Fr Andrew McKenzie and the support team of priests who have planned and organised the various aspects of the Liturgy,” Bishop Toal said.  “I hope all goes well at the choir practice in Motherwell on Saturday and we will be blessed with a pleasant autumn day next Thursday.”

Among the many other aspects of the Papal Mass which are being finalised ahead of next week is the Liturgy and Mgr Gerry Fitzpatrick (bottom right), who alongside Fr Michael Hutson, is musical director for the Mass, explained that rehearsals and practices have ensured the choir will be prepared for next week’s Mass.

“Rehearsals have been taking place all across the country and each of the dioceses will be represented in the choir,” Mgr Fitzpatrick said.

“We are greatly looking forward to the Mass and are expecting fine weather!”

Vital pilgrimage help

As pilgrims join together with their parish groups next Thursday to make their way to Bellahouston they will be issued with their wristband to gain entry to the park.

Individual identification is not required but may be useful in the event of emergency. First aid provision has been made and there will be a temporary hospital on site.

Pilgrims who become separated from their parish group will still be able to travel to and enter the park as long as they are in possession of their wristband—which is also a travel pass—and know which zone their parish group has been designated to go to for the Mass.

With gates opening at 10am and closing at 3pm the pre-Mass entertainment will begin at 1.30pm before the procession of the clergy begins at 4pm. Post-Mass entertainment will help keep spirits high as the gradual departure of pilgrims takes place.

Food outlets, toilets and access to standpipes for drinking water will all be available within the park and pilgrims are asked to bring their own plastic cup or bottle for access to drinking water. Pilgrims should also bring a picnic and a folding chair, if required.

Pilgrims are also advised to dress for changeable weather although the long-range forecast is currently predicting a dry day on September 16.

— For Papal Mass Liturgy information, visit www.beingcatholic.org

— Find more Bellahouston information on www.sconews.co.uk

— Additional reporting by Liz Leydon, [email protected]

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