Scottish Catholic Observer

The work of Scottish charity Mary’s Meals received a ringing endorsement this morning when its founder met the Holy Father, Pope Francis.

Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow received a personal invitation to meet the Pope, who had heard about the work and vision of Mary’s Meals through supporters within the Catholic community, at his Wednesday general audience at the Vatican.

“It was a huge privilege and blessing to meet the Holy Father today and represent everyone involved in the mission of Mary’s Meals,” Mr MacFarlane-Barrow (above with Pope Francis) said after this morning’s general audience.

The vision of Mary’s Meals—which recently celebrated its tenth anniversary—is that no child should go to bed hungry, and the Dalmally-based charity is currently providing a daily meal to more than 750,000 poor children across the world in their place of education.

Since his election in March, Pope Francis has been very vocal about the injustice of poverty and hunger and has pledged to dedicate his Pontificate to being close to the poor.

“Poverty in the world is a scandal,” the Pope said recently. “In a world where there is so much wealth, so many resources to feed everyone, it is unfathomable that there are so many hungry children, that there are so many children without an education, so many poor persons.

“We all have to think if we can become a little poorer, all of us have to do this. How can I become a little poorer in order to be more like Jesus, who was the poor teacher?”

For the full story on Magnus MacFarlane-Barrow’s meeting with Pope Francis, see this week’s edition of the SCO (Friday June 28.)

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