September date for papal visit to Glasgow confirmed

Glasgow is to be the second stop in Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the UK in mid-September. Following in the footsteps of his predecessor, the 83-year-old pontiff will celebrate mass at Bellahouston Park.
The Archdiocese of Glasgow has confirmed that mass will take place on the afternoon of September 16 before a crowd of up to 125,000 people.
In 1982, 250,000 people saw Pope John Paul II celebrate mass at the same venue. Health and safety legislation dictates that crowd numbers be controlled and entry to the event will be by ticket.
The Pope’s first day in Scotland will start at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, where he will meet the Queen. After the Bellahouston mass, he will fly to London.
On Sunday, September 19, Pope Benedict is expected to beautify Cardinal John Henry Newman at a ceremony in Coventry.
Archbishop of Glasgow Mario Conti said: ‘I am delighted that Pope Benedict has confirmed his visit to the UK and especially glad that it will begin in Scotland. I am pleased and honoured to know that the first mass to be offered on British soil will take place here in Glasgow.
‘It is perhaps coincidental but maybe providential that this visit comes in a year of anniversaries, many of them relating to the reformation. The last papal visit brought about a qualitative leap forward in inter-church relations.
The Pope noted this in his address to the Scottish bishops just last month: ‘The Church in your country, like many in Northern Europe, has suffered the tragedy of division. It is sobering to recall the great rupture with Scotland’s Catholic past that occurred 450 years ago. I give thanks to God for the progress that has been made in healing the wounds that were the legacy of that period.’
‘My hopes for the visit are that it might promote a rediscovery of the religious history of Scotland and that it might boost ecumenical relations,’ the archbishop added.