Vatican City

Troubles forgotten - for a while

 
They came in their tens of thousands - for a while the scandals, the controversies the arguments forgotten.
 
In the warm early autumn sunshine – unseasonably nice for Glasgow - they waited patiently for the man they all want to see.
 
It's a curious mix. One of our team said it felt like a music festival, with the strains of the organ rising above the general chatter of an excited crowd.
 
With the flags and the smell of burgers hanging in the air, the vendors pushing their programmes, to me it felt more like a football match.
 
Looking across the crowd – and there are easily 60,000 here, there are flags from Spain and France, from Ireland and Sweden, from Denmark and even India.
 
And there are the flags of the Vatican City, the world's smallest nation and of course, the white cross on the blue background, the Scottish Saltire.