Scottish Catholic Observer

The Holy Father made his comments last week during his weekly general audience at the Vatican’s Paul VI hall. During the audience he also said that he is looking forward to his UK visit, which begins in Edinburgh today, and also to meeting ‘representatives of the many different religious and cultural traditions’ while here.

“I am very much looking forward to my visit to the United Kingdom in a week’s time and I send heartfelt greetings to all the people of Great Britain,” he said. He echoed these sentiments on Sunday when, after reflection and before the Angelus, he recalled that on Thursday he will travel to Great Britain. “I ask everyone to accompany me with prayer during this apostolic visit,” he said.

Reform

The Holy Father spoke last week about the life of St Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th-century German mystic. He called her a ‘great nun’ who used her gifts to ‘work for the renewal of the church,’ which was experiencing troubles similar to those of today.

In St Hildegard’s time, there were calls for radical reform of the Church to fight the problem of abuses made by the clergy, the Pope said.

However, she ‘bitterly reproached demands to subvert the very nature of the Church,’ the Pope said. He added that she urged the Faithful, especially the clergy and monastic communities, to live holy and virtuous lives. “This is a message we must never forget,” he said.

UK visit

As Britain eagerly awaits his arrival, the Holy Father is also looking forward to the trip. “It will be a particular joy for me to beatify the Venerable Cardinal John Henry Newman in Birmingham on Sunday September 19,” he said.

“I am most grateful to Her Majesty the Queen and to His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury for receiving me, and I look forward to meeting them.”

A Celtic sandstone gift for Pope Benedict XVI was unveiled by First Minister Alex Salmond at a pre-Papal visit reception at Edinburgh Castle on Tuesday evening. It is inlaid with granite from St Ninian’s Cave and carries the inscription Te Dominum Laudamus (We Praise the Lord), which are the words carved on Scotland’s most ancient Christian relic, the Latinus Stone, which was found at Whithorn.