Pope will ‘probably’ visit Scotland

A visit to Scotland by the Pope next year is now “probable”, Scots Secretary Jim Murphy said yesterday. He made the forecast after meeting Pope Benedict in Rome.

Mr Murphy also met Vatican deputy prime minister Archbishop Fernando Filoni and Scottish Cardinal Keith O’Brien for a working lunch to discuss the Papal visit.

Mr Murphy said: “I met the Pope in a packed St Peter’s Square. We talked about international develop­ment, climate change and the proposed papal visit to Britain, including Scotland.

“It is, of course, for the Vatican to confirm but after today’s discussions, the prospects of the Pope visiting Scotland next year have gone from possible to probable.

“It is something I know that people throughout Britain, including Scots of all faiths, will welcome.”

The prospect of a visit to Britain by the Pope emerged last month but there has been no formal confirmation yet.

It would be the first papal visit to the UK since Pope John Paul II came in 1982.