It’s not everyday one meets the Pope, but Bradford’s Rev. Daniel Scott was blessed with good fortune earlier this month.
While on a trip to speak at St. Andrew’s Church of Scotland in Rome, the local minister of St. John’s Presbyterian Church found himself on a platform in front of thousands of attendees and just feet from Pope Francis himself in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on April 17.
Scott described the experience in a single word: “Spectacular.”
It was also quite by chance on what was Scott’s first visit to Italy, Rome and Vatican City.
He was scheduled to speak on Sunday at St. Andrew’s about Peter’s second sermon, which he explained focuses on the healing power of faith and the healing power available in Jesus, as well as attend a series of meetings on the Monday and Tuesday.
Before arriving, Scott said he checked the Pope’s schedule and didn’t see any appearance, but by Monday evening, he saw the opportunity to purchase tickets for a general audience on the Wednesday.
Excited, he told his friend and minister at St. Andrew’s, Rev. Tara Curlewis, who is also the World Communion of Reformed Churches’ first liaison officer to the Vatican.
Curlewis suggested she might be able to find better seats for Scott and his wife Kelly.
“I was not only pleased; I was absolutely surprised,” Scott said of discovering Wednesday morning just how much better those seats would be. “We were escorted right onto the platform and seated just feet away from where the Pope gave his address.”
Scott estimated there was anywhere between 6,000 to 8,000 people in the audience, as Pope Francis exuded a “charisma” that felt almost like a “rock star,” all while his “grace and humility was incredibly evident.”
Recalling the Pope speaking in Italian, Scott described his words as soft and gracious, but passionate with “significant” authority.
Scott explained that the Pope’s teaching that day focused on temperance, touching on Aristotle’s virtues and discussing the ways in which people disagree.
After the Pope’s speech and prayer the couple had the chance to shake his hand and hear a choir sing ‘Ave Maria’ after which Scott recalled the crowd spontaneously started chanting “Papa Francesco, Papa Francesco.”
He described the experience as “a huge honour and something that I’ll never forget,” noting “the influence that he has on his church but also on the world and his common humanity and his common love for Jesus.”
The Catholic Church hasn’t always been so tolerant of different viewpoints, with disagreements leading to the Reformation led by Martin Luther in the early 16th century, but Scott feels the Pope is trying to remove the barriers between the various branches of the faith, and noted that he was even seated next to a Lutheran bishop.
“Here we are 500-plus years later and with a recognition that there’s one saviour that unites us,” he said. “We have lots of divisions to be sure, but there’s way more in common than what divides us.”
Scott pointed to the duality of the word 'catholic', which also means universal.
“When Christians across the planet confess their faith, they say we believe in one holy catholic church, and I felt that one holy universal church,” he said.
