Archbishop Cushley organised a meeting between Pope Francis and the Very Revd Derek Browning in 2017. Here, the former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland reflects on the encounter...

In a moderatorial year, shining moments are many.

Amongst the brightest of my shining moments was an invitation to meet Pope Francis, kindly organised by my friend and neighbour, Archbishop Leo Cushley.

Meeting Francis, the first thing to notice was the sparkle in his eyes, then the warmth of his smile, and finally the firmness of his handshake, both hands.

I had prepared a formal statement touching on the 500th anniversary of the German Lutheran Reformation, and the plight of the refugees and economic migrants, and the importance of the Diaconate and its recognition, over a century ago in Scotland, of the role of women in the Church.

“I’ve never met a female Deacon”, the Pope said. “If you wait a moment, I can make one appear through that door”, I replied, and later introduced one of my chaplains, Anne Mulligan DCS, to Pope Francis. He was clearly delighted, and so was she!

We sat in the formal audience room on opposite sides of a table and with a mixture of English, Italian, Spanish and Latin began to talk and listen.

We embraced, and laughed, and commented on the colour of each other’s socks (mine red and yellow; his black).

After a short time, he got up, came around the table, pulled a chair beside mine and sat closer. “Better”, he said.

It was a very simple action but spoke volumes of the man who spent his ministry, and his pontificate, getting alongside others, and allowing others to get alongside him.

Soon we got up to walk about the apartment, keeping careful not to go too near the windows which looked onto St Peter’s Square, in case crowds rushed forward expecting him to wave from the balcony, he said!

In the hour and a half of one-to-one conversation, we touched on many important matters. Before the later formal part of our meeting he asked if I would pray for him, and he would pray for me.

We embraced, and laughed, and commented on the colour of each other’s socks (mine red and yellow; his black).

The lasting memory is of his warmth, sincerity, compassion, sparkling humour, and faithfulness.

No bad way for this good man to be remembered.

Published in Life and Work. Reproduced by kind permission. Read the full article here.