Scottish Catholic Observer

Crowds were gathering in Princes Street in Edinburgh from 8am this morning, when Cardinal Keith O’Brien arrived to see how everything was proceeding ahead of Pope Benedict XVI’s arrival at Edinburgh International Airport.

The cardinal was greeted by school children and a few of the pipers who will be taking part in the St Ninian’s Day parade. He was presented with a gift for the Holy Father from Professor Paul Murray from Durham University. The university have give the Pope a rebound first edition of St Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English Speaking Peoples from which historians know of St Ninian, whose feast day is today.

Students from Queen Margaret University were giving flags to members of the crowd as they gathered. Early arrivals included Mary Walker and Jean Reith from Dalkeith who had been planning for some time to support the Holy Father as he processes through Edinburgh.