Pope Francis will attend the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow in November, health permitting, Scotland's Roman Catholic bishops said on Monday.
The bishops confirmed the pope's presence among other world leaders in a statement on their website.
They say they are “delighted to hear” they may meet Pope Francis when he attends the Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow in November.
The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland wrote to the pope “expressing their prayerful support” as he recovers from recent colon surgery ahead of his likely appearance at the key UN summit.
READ MORE: Third of Scotland's big wind farms linked to offshore tax havens
A spokesman said: “Having written to the Holy Father to assure him of a warm welcome, should he attend the conference, they are delighted to hear that he does hope to attend and would be glad to meet with them in Glasgow.
“The pope will be in Scotland for a very short time, most of which will be spent participating in the Cop26 conference.
“While many pastoral, ecumenical and interfaith gatherings would be desirable while he is with us, time constraints sadly mean such a full programme will not be possible.”
The pontiff, 84, greeted crowds on Sunday from a balcony of the Gemelli Hospital in Rome after convalescing from his July 4 operation.
In a tweet on Sunday, Pope Francis said: “In these days of being hospitalized, I have experienced how important good health care is, accessible to all.
“This precious benefit must not be lost which needs everyone’s contribution.”
The pontiff has made environmental appeal a signature of his papacy, calling climate change “one of the most serious and worrying phenomena of our time” at the United Nations climate action summit in 2019.
READ MORE: Climate crisis needs same drastic response as Covid according to new research
In a short video message in April to the US-hosted leaders summit on climate, the pope said the coronavirus pandemic has provided world leaders with an opportunity to ensure the environment is better protected going forward.
He said: “Our concern is to see that the environment is cleaner, more pure and preserved.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel