Plenary,
Meeting date: Wednesday, May 1, 2002
Official Report
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Time for Reflection
We give a warm welcome to the Very Rev Monsignor Henry Docherty, the general secretary of the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Scotland, who will lead our time for reflection this afternoon.
Very Rev Monsignor Henry Docherty (General Secretary of the Roman Catholic Bishops Conference of Scotland):
Prescinding, with respect and reflection, from the serious and onerous deliberations of the Scottish Parliament, I cannot help recalling two events of no small significance that have taken place in this historic chamber across the span of 70 years. The first was the World Missionary Conference of 1910, which has long been recognised as marking the beginning of the modern ecumenical movement for the fullness of Christian unity. Happily, we have come a long way since then, and there are wider relationships through interfaith dialogue in our pluralist society of today.
The second event, not unrelated in the long term, was the historic visit here on 31 May 1982 of Pope John Paul II. It so happens that during the 1980s, I was privileged to serve as an official in a major Vatican congregation, or department, and acted as an adviser on the Pope's visits to Canterbury and Scotland. With regard to a possible venue for the Pontiff's meeting with the Moderator and other senior church officials, it was my recommendation that the meeting should be in the precincts of this chamber, because of its proximity to the supreme court of the Church of Scotland—the General Assembly.
Central to the message that John Paul II gave throughout Great Britain was his exhortation to make our pilgrimage in life together, "walking hand in hand" towards our final destiny with God. Whatever our daily preoccupations, we do well to keep that destiny ever in mind. That thought received particular focus recently in the peaceful and prayerful death and obsequies of our much revered Queen Mother, Elizabeth, in the 102nd year of her remarkable life. The impressive centrepiece in the splendidly ornate chapel of Glamis Castle, her ancestral home, depicts Christ's crucifixion, which is almost a prophetic foreshadowing of God's calling the Queen Mother to himself during the solemnity of the paschal vigil on Holy Saturday.
The psalms of the Old Testament were dear to Her late Majesty, and this extract from Psalm 122, verses 6 to 9, offers us an appropriate prayer for the holy land during these tragic days:
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem! May they prosper who love you! Peace be within your walls and security within your towers!"
For my brethren's and companions' sake, I say, "Peace be within you." For the sake of the Lord our God, I will seek your good.
Amen.