The Pope's Visit to Scotland

Pope Benedict XVI in Edinburgh

I don't know the collective noun for Cardinals but I intend to find out. In Edinburgh, on the first day of Pope Benedict's state visit to Britain, three Cardinals and an Archbishop shared the pavements of Princes Street with countless schoolchildren, teachers, parents, pipers and - inevitably - journalists, as dawn broke over the city.

Hours before his arrival on a cold sunny day, thousands began lining the streets between the airport and Holyrood Palace where Pope Benedict would be greeted by the Queen. Twenty-eight years earlier his predecessor Pope John Paul was here in the UK. I saw him at a youth mass in Ninian Park, Cardiff - a day I remember vividly and happily. I also saw him in Liverpool making the journey between the city's two cathedrals along Hope Street.

Different Popes - one a superstar with charisma to burn, the other an elderly, shy man. Different times - Catholicism in Britain riding a wave of confidence under John Paul, now on the defensive after huge failings over the abuse of children.

We didn't know in 1982 what John Paul would help achieve by the end of that decade in Europe. And we don't know yet what shape the world will take under Benedict. The next few days might give us a glimpse.

5 live Breakfast comes live from Twickenham on Friday morning as the Pope holds a service for school children and teachers. Later in the day 5 live will have full coverage of his meeting with the Archbishop of Canterbury and address to MP's in Westminster.

Shelagh Fogarty presents 5 live Breakfast with Nick Campbell every weekday morning from 6am.

Related Links

5 live Breakfast - listen to a week's worth of programmes

Papal Visit - full coverage on BBC News Online