A former Moderator of the General Assembly has been awarded one of the highest honours in the Roman Catholic church.
In a historic first, the Very Rev Dr Sheilagh Kesting – from Stornoway – has been invested as a Dame of the Order of St Gregory the Great by Pope Francis.
The award, in recognition of her many years of ecumenical work, is seen as a tangible sign of the good relations between the Church of Scotland and the Roman Catholic Church.
It is the equivalent of the papal knighthood awarded to men. Sir Tom Farmer is one recipient in Scotland of this rare honour.
Dr Kesting is the first Church of Scotland minister to receive the award and the Roman Catholic Church says it has only been awarded once before to a non-Catholic woman in the United Kingdom.
The award came as a complete surprise to Dr Kesting, who knew omly that she had been invited to a small dinner at Archbishop Leo Cushley’s residence in Edinburgh to celebrate her retirement.
Archbishop Cushley presented Dr Kesting with a declaration and three different sizes of lapel decorations representing the Order of St Gregory the Great.
Dr Kesting said she was so surprised at the Sunday event, she was initially speechless.
“I am absolutely overwhelmed. It is just astonishing and unbelievable and it is a tremendous privilege.
“I am delighted that the relationship between our two Churches has become strong enough that this kind of acknowledgement can be given from one to the other, and it means so much that it comes from Pope Francis.
“We have been watching this new Pope with tremendous interest and excitement about the things that he is saying and the encouragement that he is giving to ecumenical relations. So to have this honour from Pope Francis just adds to its significance. It is wonderful.
Dr Kesting, who grew up in Stornoway, was named Moderator in 2007.
David Waterton-Anderson of the UK Association of Papal Honours said: “It is a very, very high honour and a very rare thing for a non-Catholic to receive the Order of St Gregory the Great. And this honour is something she can be really proud of because it is not political, but only given for good works.”
He said Lady Hazel Sternberg, who died in 2014, is the only other non-Catholic woman in the UK he believes to have been invested as a Dame of the Order of St Gregory.