An ecumenical mission to bring the Gospel to shopping centres and department stores in Scotland: that’s the idea that the Catholic Church in Scotland has been trying to develop for over a year through the Scottish Churches Industrial Mission, which involves six Churches of different Christian denominations (ten persons in all), with two precise objectives: reaching those who work and who patronise department stores and shopping centres (of the order of 330,000 visitors per week plus thousands of staff), and encouraging the various Christian Churches to work together. Cate Adams, a young Catholic from Aberdeen, tells of her experience as a “city centre chaplain”. She is one of the 300 pilgrims from 25 European countries participating in the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela organized by COMECE, the Commission of the episcopates of the European Union. “It’s not an easy mission – explains Cate but I believe I am privileged to be involved in it because it enables me to meet so many people and share their life a little. As a European it’s great to see how it is possible to work together with the other Christian Churches”. Cate enters shops and simply asks people “How are you?”. “We speak of the weather, of family, of work. I give them a newsletter and only if someone asks me if he/she could come to church do I speak more openly and invite him/her to our programme of activities”. The delegates of other Churches present in the pilgrimage also included Bishop Athanasios d’Achaia, representative of the Orthodox Church to the European Union, who recalls the “common faith in the depth of our heart, even if we come from different countries”. Archmandrite Spyridon-Stavros Katramados, secretary of the Synod of the Greek Church responsible for Europe, said he was participating in the pilgrimage “to get to know the various members of the same family”.
