Papal Visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Scotland

Today I possessed a front row seat to history being created, as Pope Benedict XVI became the first Head of State of the Holy See to visit the United Kingdom. In 1982, Pope John Paul II visited Great Britain in his role as Holy Father of the Catholic Church and thus did not meet with any members of Her Majesty’s Government or The Royal Family. At 10:30 AM the papal jet landed at Edinburgh International Airport and Benedict XVI was greeted on the tarmac by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh and the Royal Scots Guard. I first saw the Pope in the popemobile, as he travelled in a motorcade towards the Palace of Holyroodhouse, Her Majesty The Queen’s Royal Residence in Scotland.

At 11:00 AM the Pope was being given a State Welcome at the palace with all the members of the Order of the Thistle; the Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg; senior members of the Royal Family and prominent member of British Society, along with the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. Pope Benedict XVI was then granted an audience with Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. During the State Reception for the Papal Delegation, I travelled by train from Edinburgh to Glasgow with the University of Edinburgh Catholic Student Union to attend the open-air Mass in the presence of the Holy Father at Glasgow’s Bellahouston Park. It should be noted that Bellahouston was the location where Pope John Paul II held the first ever Papal Mass in Great Britain back in 1982 to a crowd of well over 100,000 worshipers.

As the popemobile began a procession through the streets of Edinburgh at around 12:30 PM I was just entering the park with the Catholic Student Union and watched aerial scenes of the historic journey on the jumbotron. My presence at the Mass is directly attributed to the help of my friend Chiara, from near Milano, whom I studied with during my LL.M. and her friend, Brett, whom graciously looked after me during the pilgrimage and patiently answered my numerous questions regarding traditions, fundamental beliefs and history of the Catholic Church.

While the Pope and his official motorcade made their way from Edinburgh to Glasgow, the crowd was entertained by Susan Boyle, a native Scotswoman who rose to fame a couple years ago during the television show, Britain’s Got Talent, for her amazing vocal abilities.

At 16:45, Pope Benedict had arrived at Bellahouston Park and made his way to the pulpit where he prepared for the Holy Mass. It was at this point in time that I was less than five feet away from His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI as he made his way towards the steps. As the Entrance Procession made their way past the music of “Grace to you and Peace” and “Be thou my vision” played. It was a moment before this, when the Holy Father was vesting and the Strathclyde Police Bagpipe Band were playing “Amazing Grace” with a 1,000 member choir singing the classic lines that the magnitude of the event hit me and something inside acknowledged that I was observing something very special, which words would be feudal to describe.

A liturgy of the Word (an excerpt of The Bible), Romans 12:3-13, Psalm 22 and Luke 10:1-9 were read and in the Scottish tradition, a Celtic Invocation given. The Archbishop of Glasgow then gave the Pope an ancient book, written by St Ninian from the 4th Century. A prayer was said over the gift and a salute to the Feast of Saint Ninian, the Apostle of Scotland, born a Briton, but travelled to Rome and then back to faraway isle to spread the light of faith in Jesus. A Eucharistic prayer was read in Latin by the Holy Father and then the sermon was delivered. Since this was a Papal State occasion, the message was targeted to a much larger audience than the 60,000 gathered in Bellahouston Park. He said the future of Christianity is with the youth a point which I highly agree, though the latter portion of his talk focused on the negative effects of privatizing religion and the removal of the church from society – a premises which I find archaic and treading on dangerous consequences of religion becoming a tool of state power, rather than as a guide for the faithful.

The Mass ended and I celebrated the very special occasion with the Glasgow and Edinburgh University Catholic Student Unions in the tradition manner of wine, cheese and bread. It was rewarding for me to be party to such a monumentous and historic occasion and to have been witness to the first ever State Visit by the Pontiff of the Holy See to Great Britain and then to have been within an arm’s length of the Pope twice in a single day – once while he was wearing a tartan shawl to show his support for the Scottish people and the second time as he was fully vested for Mass. To those who read this account, peace be with you.

Q & A with Matt Soper - students ask about castles, books, and ghosts

What types of castles are in Scotland?

There are many types of castes in Scotland. The majority were built along the coast as protection from Jackobite invasions and civil uprisings. In the last 300 years castles have continued to be built, however they tend to be more like large homes or estates, rather than a fortress for defence. Glamis Castle was the home to the Queen Mother before her death a couple years ago; Balmoral Castle is the official hunting retreat of HRH The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh (consort to the Queen), the Palace of Holyroodhouse is the Royal family's official residence in Scotland. A castle is merely a fortified residence to protect a noble or a noble domain. Most castles have apartments to house the noble when he / she is in residence, but the far larger function is to protect the king, queen, prince, royal duke (children of the monarch), duke, marquis, earl, or baron. Kings ruled a kingdom, Dukes ruled a Duchy, Marquis a Marquisette, Earls an Earldom, Counts a county and Barons ruled a barony. The Royal Duchy is the fund that pays the monarch and it is comprised mainly of land and stock holdings. Lords and Knights have titles in name only, which comes with no land or seat in the House of Lords on the Privy Council (advisors to the monarch – they must be part of the aristocracy and will be holders of heraldry titles, means those passed on from generation to generation). Judges carry the title lord, but that title is only for life and will not transfer to their heirs. HRH Queen Elizabeth II is the richest woman in the world, as her personal collection of assets makes her a billionaire. I love visiting castles and they are full of mystery, intrigue, history, and romance (in a classical sense).

What books are you currently reading?

I am reading a lot of books at the moment. Because I am studying law the majority of the books I read are related to law. I have been reading Gaius' Institutes which was originally written by the jurist named Gaius in ancient Rome, circa 170 A.D. I have also been reading Justinian's Institutes which was the first book ever written for law students. Emperor Justinian was the last great leader of Rome and tried to recreate greatness by codifying law (that means taking decisions of judges and opinions of jurists and making those concepts and ideas into statute). I have also been reading a book called Contract Law in Scotland by Hector MacQueen, who is considered one of the greatest living legal minds in all of Scotland (he is also one of my professors). I am also reading a book on Scottish family law by Elaine Sutherland and then a book on the Scottish legal system. I am working on learning French and for fun I have been trying to read some books in French, though these tend to be geared for little kids, I still find them challenging. The other book I have been reading is the Andre Agassi autobiography called Open, it is a good read and easy to read at night when your mind is tired and focusing on Law or French is not possible.

Have you ever been in a haunted house?

I have never been in a haunted house, or at least I did not know if I was in a haunted house or not. I have taken a ghost tour along Edinburgh’s Royal Mile and while I wasn’t scared, there definitely were places we were taken on the tour where I would not want to go alone. One such place was the chambers underneath the Royal Mile and South Bridge, where many poor people lived and worked during the medieval period. When the Black Plague hit Edinburgh and the bodies were piling up, the city built on top of the old city, fearing that it was a curse – we all know it was the bubonic bacteria. The worst example of the bubonic plague was in Mary King's Close, believed to be the last badly infected location of the Old Town. In a desperate measure to reduce contamination over 300 plague victims were entombed alive when the close was bricked up until the plague had passed. All perished. Knowing the history, made visiting the city under the city quite scary to say the least – the tour guides helped ensure the history was very vivid in our minds. There are numerous reports of haunting in the closes along the Royal Mile – are they really haunted? Who knows?

NATO Sec.-Gen. Rasmussen visits the University of Edinburgh to urge US and UK to keep troops in Afghanistan

Today the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, former prime minister of Denmark, visited the University of Edinburgh’s School of Law at Old College to give a landmark address on the future of the War in Afghanistan. Aside from the policy and political nature of his visit, I noted the difference between Mr. Rasmussen’s visit today and the visit of His Royal Highness Prince Philips’ visit to Old College yesterday. Yesterday, HRH Prince Philip, who serves as the Chancellor of the University of Edinburgh, arrived at the law school with the normal police motorcade and his usual detail of six bodyguards and a small team of agents who had done advance work. Today, Secretary-General Rasmussen arrives with a full police motorcade, four suburban-assault vehicles, about 40-50 police were around the Old College with police vehicles of all shapes and sizes blocking every street from automobiles around the law school. Secret service agents were milling in every part of the law school and special officers in black uniforms walked along the roofline of the Old College. A protest was organized today outside the large gates of Old College and the view from the windows displayed more reporters with cameras, than protesters holding signs. Thought the evening news seems to be reporting copious amounts of protesters were present – I wonder where they were. Certainly the entire group was not outside the law school, as that was a dismal display if I ever saw one, though maybe it gives credence to Rasmussen’s message to keep troops in Afghanistan. The spoils of hosting a major world leader is the ability of students to snag sandwiches from the buffet table where the reception was located – a very Scottish stunt indeed. The excitement of Prince Philip and Anders Rasmussen has been pretty fun, but a shame neither one of them could make time to chat with the students who study in Old College.