BY Ian Dunn | January 22 2016 | 
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Pope invited to Scots College’s 400th
Publication Date: 2016-01-22
Archbishop Leo Cushley extends invitation during private audience with the Holy Father
Pope Francis has been officially invited to visit the Pontifical Scots College in Rome to help mark this year’s 400th anniversary of its foundation as a seminary.
Archbishop Leo Cushley issued the invitation on behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland and the Pontifical Scots College during a private audience with Pope Francis at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace on Monday.
“The Pontifical Scots College has a truly remarkable history and, so, it would be wonderful if Pope Francis could join us as we celebrate that past with pride while looking to the future with great confidence and trust in the Lord,” the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, a former Vatican diplomat, said.During their 40-minute discussion, the archbishop discussed a wide range of issues with the Holy Father including the general health of the Church in Scotland and his predecessor Cardinal Keith O’Brien.
“It’s now over two years since the Holy Father sent me to Scotland to bring the joy of Christ’s Gospel to all those who live within the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh—so I wanted to brief him on how our archdiocese is progressing with that important mission he has entrusted to me,” Archbishop Cushley said.
“Pope Francis was Peter—the rock—such that during our discussion he continually confirmed my Faith by his words and by his example,” the archbishop said.
If the Pope was to visit the Pontifical Scots College in Rome it would be the highpoint in a year of celebrations.
The college was officially founded in 1600 by Pope Clement VIII to provide an education for young Scottish Catholic men who—due to the laws against Catholics—could not receive a Catholic education at home. It was on on March 10, 1616, however, inspired by the martyrdom of St John Ogilvie, the 16 students studying at the college vowed to become priests and return to Scotland, just one year after the saint’s execution at Glasgow Cross.
—This story ran in full in the January 22 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.
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