Swinney ‘very moved’ after Pope’s funeral in Rome

Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has said the funeral of Pope Francis was “very moving” and “uplifting” after he attended the ceremony in Rome.

He travelled to the Italian capital for the Mass, along with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, Prince William, US President Donald Trump and scores of other dignitaries.

Paisley Bishop John Keenan, clergy and parishioners from across the country were also in Italy for the service, which began at 10:00 local time (09:00 BST). Many more followed the funeral at home.

The leader of the Roman Catholic Church died on Easter Monday aged 88, after suffering a stroke.

Pope Francis was laid to rest in the church of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of Rome’s four major basilicas.

In Scotland, a minute’s silence was held in memory of the Pope ahead of Celtic’s Scottish Premiership title decider match with Dundee United.

The first minister said the Pope showed the “perfect example of leadership” which combined “spiritual leadership to the faithful and dignified leadership to the world.”

Speaking from St Peter’s Square, he said: “It’s been a very moving ceremony, a very dignified ceremony, paying tribute to a life of service in arguing for the protection of the poor and to support those who seek justice.

“But also an uplifting service about the hope for the world that Pope Francis conveyed.”

He praised the Pope for “acting purposefully to protect the planet through climate action”.

The first minister said the Pope set an example to the world of “turning our backs on conflict and war”.

He said he felt “deeply privileged” to represent Scotland at the funeral and spoke about his own experience of Christianity.

Swinney said he had been baptised a Protestant but worshipped in the Catholic Church with his wife and son.

He added: “My wife and son are Catholics, I am not a member of the Catholic Church. But what for me matters is the deep anchoring of faith in my life.

“It makes me who I am. It connects me with the love of God and it also connects me with the important teachings of doing unto others as I would have done unto me.

“That drives my whole approach to life and it drives the political leadership and the national leadership I exercise as first minister of Scotland.”

The service saw a funeral procession accompanying the Pope’s coffin to the square in front of St Peter’s Basilica.

It was led by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re.

The Vatican said about 250,000 people gathered in St Peter’s Square and the nearby streets for the funeral.

The service ended with a final commendation – a concluding prayer where the pontiff was formally entrusted to God.

Silence fell across the square as the Pope’s coffin was blessed with holy water and incense was burned to symbolise cleansing.

Bishop John Keenan, of the Paisley Diocese, represented the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland (BCOS) at the funeral, having met Pope Francis on several occasions.

He was among hundreds of senior clergy in the vast crowd at St Peter’s Square.

Bishop Keenan described Pope Francis, who was the first South American pontiff, as a “breath of fresh air.”

He told BBC Scotland News: “I’m used to Rome but I’ve never seen crowds like this.

“The atmosphere is sombre, there’s a sense we’ve lost a father of the universal family, and there’s a sense across the world that we’ve lost a fairly unique leader.

“But’s it’s positive as well – there’s a gratefulness there too.”

An array of world leaders and dignitaries attended the service.

But thousands of ordinary Catholics also arrived to pay their respects to a pontiff known for shunning many of the extravagant trappings associated with the position.

And many queued for hours earlier in the week to see Pope Francis lying in state in St Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.

Among them was a group of young women from Scotland who travelled to Rome for Pope Francis’s funeral to “celebrate a great leader”.

Claire, from Kirkintilloch, East Dunbartonshire, said it was a “sad day for the Catholic Church”.

Her friend Erin added: “Although it’s sad, it’s great to be able to celebrate how great a pope he was.

“As a young person, I think he really spoke to the youth.”

Tom Clarke, secretary of the Catholic Association at Glasgow University, had only just returned from an Easter trip to Rome with his family – where he saw Pope Francis in person – when he learned of the death.

He then flew back out to Italy on Friday to be there for the funeral.

Mr Clarke told BBC Scotland News: “Pope Francis is all I’ve known from a Catholic perspective.

“I think the testimony of lots of young people, including myself, at the funeral, is important to show to the world it’s something that really means a lot to us.

“He needs our prayers as he’s passed on from this life.

“It’s a hard job and he will have struggled with that, so it’s nice to go over and pay our dues to him.”

Other Scots were already intending to be in Rome for the canonization of teenage saint Carlo Acutis.

It was scheduled for Sunday but has been postponed due to the death of Pope Francis.

John Patrick Mallon, of Catholic video production company Sancta Familia Media, said the city was already packed full of people, with “extraordinary security measures” put in place by the Italian government.

He said: “It’s incredibly moving.

“Here we see thousands of people from all walks of life, and that’s very uplifting to me.

“The atmosphere is more gratitude than sadness.”

In Scotland many other Catholics followed the funeral on TV, while a Requiem Mass for Pope Francis will be held at St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh on Monday.

Flags on Scottish government buildings also flew at half-mast during the funeral in honour of Pope Francis.