2016-04-14 17:52:00

Pope Francis meeting with Scots College "very inspiring"


(Vatican Radio) “It was fantastic!  Very, very inspiring moment for the seminarians at the Scots College.”

These were the words of seminarian Ryan Black after Pope Francis met with members of the Pontifical Scots College, which is marking 400 years since it became a seminary. One year after the martyrdom of St John Ogilvie, the students of the college took the Mission Oath, pledging to return to their homeland as priests.

“St. John Ogilvie is really a symbol for the Catholic community in Scotland,” explained Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow after the meeting.

Listen to the Vatican Viewpoint featuring Archbishop Philip Tartaglia and seminarian Ryan Black:

“He is a symbol of the freedom to be a Catholic and the freedom of the Church, so the Holy Father was absolutely right saying he was a martyr and this is a time when we need to give witness,” Archbishop Taraglia told Vatican Radio.

“The world isn’t always so receptive to faith values and to religion, and in fact it can get squeezed – pushed to the margins,” the Archbishop said. “So we have to, in a way which is acceptable [and] convincing, give witness to our faith. In a way which, as Pope Francis would say, is merciful, too.”

The seminarian at the meeting said he is also aware of the challenge.

“There isn’t the persecution that we might find in the Middle East…or North of Africa, but there is this hostility towards the Gospel,” Black said.

However, he told Vatican Radio there is hope in the next generation.

“The young people in Scotland seem to have a new love for the Faith, which is fantastic,” – Black said – “And we as seminarians have a great access to that, because we are very lucky to be allowed to join in in diocesan pilgrimages to places like Lourdes with the youth of our diocese, and they really seem to have a newfound love for the Faith, and  an newfound appreciation to why the Faith is important in our country.”








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