Scottish Catholic Observer

Falling squarely into the ‘if it happened around September 16 and didn’t arrive on an Alitalia plane from the Vatican then forget about it’ category, Cross Wires would like to draw a line under speculation on First Minister Alex Salmond’s comments on the debt Scotland owes to the Catholic Church.

Ongoing whispering as to what Mr Salmond did and didn’t say privately while at the Papal Mass at Bellahouston Park are likely to remain just that, mere speculation. However what the First Minister said—to invited guests and in the presence of Cardinal Keith O’Brien—at his pre-Papal visit reception at Edinburgh Castle is on the record.

In his official address Mr Salmond said: “The Church in Scotland has ancient roots and a long, continuous history. It has added to the nation’s diversity and it has itself become more diverse.

“Today the Church contributes immensely to the nation: above all through its Christian witness; but also through the flourishing Catholic schools; through the charitable work of organisations like the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, which as I speak is doing such good work helping flood victims in Pakistan; and the youth clubs and pensioners’ clubs and countless other social activities run by Catholic Churches in parishes across the length and breadth of Scotland.”

And yes, later in more candid and perhaps less scripted informal closing remarks, the First Minister did indeed add that without the Catholic Church the modern Scotland we know today might not exist. But then he added a line about Scotland’s gift to Pope Benedict XVI being made by a [stone] mason and, in truth, the latter remark pretty much killed the impact of the former.

Pic: Paul McSherry