ADDRESS OF HIS HOLINESS POPE JOHN PAUL II
 TO SCOTTISH PILGRIMS

Monday, 4 December 1996

Your Eminence,
Dear Friends,

I am very pleased to welcome you, Cardinal Winning, together with the Lord Provost of Glasgow and the many faithful who have accompanied you on this pilgrimage to Rome as you celebrate your silver jubilee of episcopal ordination.

It is doubly appropriate that the actual anniversary celebrations fell on the feast of the Apostle St Andrew, patron of Scotland. It was Andrew who first brought his brother, Simon Peter, to the Lord. Today, following in the footsteps of countless Scottish pilgrims down the centuries, you have come to Rome to visit the tomb of Peter at the Vatican. May this pilgrimage confirm the bonds of communion uniting you with Peter’s Successor and bring you, even as Andrew brought Peter, ever closer to Jesus Christ. I am confident that the Catholics of Scotland, well-known for their fidelity to the Lord and his Church even amid suffering and trials, will be granted the grace to persevere in joyful witness to the Gospel and its message of enduring hope.

Commending all of you to the loving care of Mary, Mother of the Church, I cordially impart my Apostolic Blessing as a pledge of grace and peace in Christ our Saviour.

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