On the eve of the funeral of Pope Francis, we've gathered images of those based in the Archdiocese who came face-to-face with the Holy Father.
Prayerfulness: Fr Jamie McMorrin, of St Margaret's, Davidson's Mains, Edinburgh, was a Deacon when he assisted at a Papal Mass in St Peter’s Basilica to celebrate the Feast of the Chair of Peter, February 2016. At that time he said: "The biggest lesson and the most deeply-engraved memory which I will take away from the experience of Monday was the careful, recollected prayerfulness with which the Holy Father celebrated Mass.”
Moment of grace: Susan Boyle, the Scottish singer who is a parishioner at Our Lady of Lourdes in Blackburn, West Lothian, met Pope Francis at the Vatican in 2019, ahead of her performance at the Vatican's annual Christmas Concert. Vatican Media.
Smiles: A joyful and poignant image of the late Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow Archdiocese, with Archbishop Cushley and the Holy Father in the Vatican in September 2016. The event was to mark the 400th anniversary of the Founding of The Pontifical Scots' College as a Seminary.
Blessing: A lovely photo of the Holy Father and Amelia from SS Alphonsa & Anthony Syro Malabar Catholic Mission Edinburgh, at a Papal audience at St Peter's Square in October last year, posted on Pope Francis' Instagram. He wrote: "Let us pray the Rosary daily, entrusting ourselves confidently into the hands of Mary!" (Instagram)
Whisky gift: William McQuillan, now priest at St John the Baptist in Fauldhouse, watches on as Charles Coyle presents a bottle of whisky to Pope Francis during a visit of seminarians and staff from the Pontifical Scots College to the Vatican in 2018. Both were deacons at the time of this picture and Charles is now a priest of Motherwell Diocese. (Vatican Media)
Special moment: Pope Francis congratulates Leo Cushley after his nomination as 8th Archbishop and Metropolitan of St Andrews & Edinburgh by Pope Francis in 2013. (Vatican Media)
St Andrew's Day: Fr Nick Welsh, Vice-Rector of the Pontifical Scots College in Rome, and a priest of the Archdiocese, shared the above photo of priests and seminarians meeting Pope Francis on St Andrew's Day in 2023. (Fr Nick is second from left) (Pontifical Scots College)
Happy encounter: Fr Tony Lappin (St Joseph's, Peebles, and St James', Innerleithen) posted the above photo on Facebook and wrote: "My brief meeting with Pope Francis on 18 April 2013 when, after being elected Pope, he took possession of the Basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls, one of the four papal basilicas in Rome."
College update: Archbishop Leo Cushley and Fr Mark Cassidy, Rector of the Pontifical Scots College, had a Private Audience with the Holy Father in October 2023. The meeting was in response to the Pope's enquiry into the progress of the efforts to relocate the College. (Vatican Media).
Rosary: Fr John Adesotu, priest at St Kessog'a Parish (Balfron and Blanefield) said: "I met Pope Francis on November 11, 2020. It was on the occasion of my College’s (Pontifical Collegio Nepomucenum) visit to him while I was a student in Rome. On that occasion he gave me a beautiful Rosary that I still use to this day."
Patience and kindness: Fr Jock Dalrymple of St John's and St Mary Magdalene's in Edinburgh, shared the above video from a papal audience in 2022. He wrote: “At the end of the audience, although already in considerable pain from a knee (from the following week, he was forced to use a wheelchair) Pope Francis spent nearly an hour meeting members of the audience, taking time with each.
Eventually, he came to a religious sister standing directly in front of us: as the video clip shows, he took enormous trouble with her, giving his full attention as she asked him if he knew when a book about ‘The Disappeared’ in Argentina (in General Pinochet’s time) would be translated into Italian, and duly responding, before finally moving on to the many others wanting to have a word with him.
For me their encounter was a kind of ‘icon’, illustrating his humility, humanity, patience and kindness. May he rest in the peace he so richly deserves.”
A Requiem Mass for Pope Francis will be celebrated by Archbishop Cushley at St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday 28 April at 12:45pm. Read Archbishop Cushley's reflection on Pope Francis here.