For Scots Bench, "A Positive and Inspiring Vision"

Four days after giving his "marching orders" to the bishops of England and Wales in advance of his fall visit, this morning the Pope closed out the British ad limina by receiving the bishops of Scotland, who followed their southern counterparts in making the now seven-yearly Roman pilgrimage through this week.

As he did with the first UK group, B16 confirmed that he'll be visiting Scotland "later this year," again leaving out the trip's widely-circulated dates of 16-19 September.

According to the latest reports on the itinerary to leak out, the trip could begin north of the border, where Benedict would meet Queen Elizabeth II in the midst of her traditional summer hiatus in Scotland.

Here below, the pontiff's fulltext:

While no photos have yet emerged of the Northern ad limina, the shot above comes from a Flickrstream of pics from the E&W visit.

Tip to the scribe of the "Morning Must-Read": Luke Coppen of the Catholic Herald.

PHOTO: Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk

-30-