“The National Youth Pilgrimage to St Andrews on Saturday was a wonderful occasion. It was both moving and great fun to be there with all the young adults who were in public to witness to their faith.

"One example of that was together taking a relic of St Andrew and - for the first time I know in centuries - we were able to sing the litany of the saints (which included many Scottish saints) in the ruins of the cathedral of St Andrews. The young people were then blessed with that relic.

"We were also joined by a Church of Scotland minister in the town who had welcomed us into the Kirk there. So it wasn’t just a Catholic event, it was a Christian event and even if I may say, an ecumenical event.

"Our young people embraced the whole thing with enthusiasm and with a great spirit of stillness and prayer and that was a beautiful thing to do. Afterwards we celebrated Mass in St James’s Parish Church and the great devotion of our young people was moving

"The National Youth Pilgrimage was a beautiful, happy, occasion and I look forward to next year. We haven’t yet decided where, but it will be somewhere that I’m sure will put us in touch with our deep Christian roots in this country.

"I look forward to it…and also hope the weather will be slightly kinder!"

Archbishop Leo Cushley