PAPAL MACE: The Catholic Church in Scotland has presented St Andrews University with a special Papal Mace to mark the institution’s 600th anniversary. The gift was presented to the University’s Principal, Professor Louise Richardson, by Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews & Edinburgh at a service Sunday 30 November. “I reminded the congregation present in the beautiful St Salvator’s Chapel that we were gifting the mace as a Catholic community in Scotland with gratitude to God for the many blessing that have been bestowed on us through the university over many centuries,” said Archbishop Cushley. The silver and gold mace has been crafted in the workshop of the Edinburgh silversmiths Hamilton & Inches. Bearing the insignia of Pope Francis, it will be known simply as “The 600th Mace”. “I think it’s a wonderful day, a wonderfully significant day for the life of the university and indeed our relations with the Catholic Church, we go back so long, so symbolic of our foundation,” said Principal Richardson following the ceremony. The 600th Mace was used for the first time this week during the university’s graduation ceremonies. It was carried alongside St Andrews’ five other maces, some of which date back to the 15th century. Each signifies the authority of the university. St Andrews is Scotlands first university and the third oldest in the English speaking world. The University was formally constituted by the issue of a Papal Bull in 1413. Earlier this year, Pope Francis imparted his blessing upon the University at the culmination of the 600th celebrations, “His Holiness invokes upon all the staff and students of the University, past and present, the abundant blessings of Almighty God, as a pledge of heavenly peace and joy”. “This completes a triple recognition of the University of St Andrews,” said Professor John Haldane of St Andrews University, a Consultor to the Vatican’s Pontifical Council for Culture, who initiated the Papal Mace project. “During his visit to Scotland at the outset of this decade Pope Benedict referred to the university beginning to mark the 600th anniversary of its foundation, then last year Pope Francis sent a message of congratulation and now his office has granted permission for the inclusion of his coat of arms on the head of a mace commissioned to mark the completion of several centuries and the beginning of who knows how many more”. The mace is made of sterling silver with rose gold details. It has an enamel and gold St Andrews Cross motif to the top of the head and also carries the arms of the University and those of Pope Francis, chased and engraved in gold. The overall length of the mace is 1100mm with a central tube diameter of 38mm. The lower section of the shaft carries the inscription: “From the Scottish Catholic Church in the Pontificate of Pope Francis to the University of St Andrews in celebration of its six centuries. St Andrews Day 2014”. The head of the 600th Mace is reminiscent of the distinctive profile of Brunelleschis famous 15th century dome for the Cathedral of Florence, and also of the form of an acorn recalling the fact that the University grew from a seed sown by the medieval Catholic Church.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 12:50:09 +0000
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