The Scottish Cardinal Keith O’ Brien has responded with “great joy” to the news that Scottish First Minister Jack McConnell has lent his support to the campaign launched last year to transform 30 November, the feast of St. Andrew, patron of Scotland, into a national holiday. In England and Wales, all the national holidays are linked to the calendar of the banks and have no religious motivation: that’s why they are called “bank holidays”. Last year the members of the committee for culture of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh promoted a bill to transfer one of the “bank holidays” to 30 November and thus turn it into an occasion to celebrate the national identity. The bill was rejected, but a new proposal, this time supported by the Scottish First Minister, is likely to have more success. Speaking at the end of a meeting between the most important Scottish religious leaders and First Minister McDonnell, Cardinal O’Brien declared that steps had been made in the right direction. “The Scots deserve to celebrate their patron saint just as do the inhabitants of other European countries”, declared the cardinal who heads the archdiocese of St. Andrew’s and Edinburgh. St. Andrew’s Day is an important national symbol for Scotland, a country with a long tradition that has only in recent years obtained a high level of autonomy within the United Kingdom. The cross of St. Andrew, who became patron of Scotland in the mid-10th century, adorns the Scottish flag and according to tradition his relics rest in the little university town of St. Andrew’s.
