Scotland: Priest praises Pope Francis' ministry to young people

Photo by Vlad Shalaginov on Unsplash

A special Act of Worship, marking the passing of Pope Francis, with Father David Stewart from the Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart in Edinburgh, featured on BBC Radio Scotland yesterday.

Commenting afterwards, Fr David told ICN: "Pope Francis has left us pastoral ministers a big opportunity to bring the Gospel to the next generation; perhaps more precisely, to be ready to respond when young adults come to our doors, as more and more are doing every week, asking about Christ and our faith.

"Here at the Jesuit Church of the Sacred Heart, Edinburgh, we are seeing on the ground what others are reporting too: new faces every week, especially at our Sunday evening young adult (20s & 30s) Mass, 'The Seven'.

They are telling us that they are looking for testimony of how God works in our lives, they are looking for truth that they can live by, so we need to be ready to welcome each one. Pope Francis told us that he wanted a church that "goes out", that does not lock itself narcissistically in the sacristy, but simultaneously welcomes everyone - "todos, todos, todos", as he insisted, at Lisbon two years ago. Let's open those doors for them!"

Listen to the programme here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m002bwp5