Pentecost Sunday

Pastoral Message Ahead of the Visit of Pope Benedict XVI

to Great Britain 16th - 19th September 2010

(to be read at Masses on 22/23 May 2010)

My dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Pope Benedict XVI will be in Scotland on 16th September 2010, the first day of a 4-day visit to Great Britain. We hope and pray that his visit will be a day of thanksgiving and joy for us all.

It will be no surprise to you to know that there will be costs associated with the Pope’s visit. The Catholic Church is responsible for meeting the costs of the events planned predominantly for the Catholic community. These will include the Papal Mass in Glasgow, which I hope many of you will be able to attend.

The Catholic Church in Scotland has been asked to raise about £1.2m and we hope to raise £300,000 of that in today’s Scotland-wide collection. Any surplus funds will go towards funding a Papal Visit legacy for the Catholic Church in Scotland. In order to help meet these targets, I am asking you to contribute as generously as you can today.

As I have said before, I believe that the Holy Father’s visit is full of positive opportunity.

I pray that Pope Benedict XVI, in speaking the truth of Jesus Christ with that gentle and loving conviction of his, will confirm the faith of the Catholic community, and encourage us in our faith, witness and practice.

I pray that the Holy Father, with his open and unembarrassed witness to the Gospel, will delight and comfort the hearts of many Christians and people of good will in our country.

I pray too that the Pope, with his characteristic graciousness and profound insight, will give the critics of religion some pause for thought and an opportunity to glimpse the mystery of God which is the foundation of all reality and for which the human heart yearns.

I pray that, during his visit, Pope Benedict XVI will make a convincing proposal to our society that faith in God is not the enemy of freedom and democracy but our one hope to build a civilisation of love.

My dear brothers and sisters, I am confident that, on his arrival in Scotland, Pope Benedict will know that he is being welcomed and embraced by the respect, loyalty and love of the Catholic community. We need to make his day in Scotland the platform for a successful and fruitful visit to Great Britain.

I urge you to be generous today in helping the Church to meet the exceptional expenses which will be incurred by this momentous visit. Thank you.

May God bless you! May God bless Pope Benedict XVI!

Yours devotedly in Christ

X Philip Tartaglia

Bishop of Paisley