A relic of St Margaret of Scotland has been given by Archbishop Leo Cushley to a Chilean church named in her honour.
Archbishop Cushley presented the scapular bone relic of St Margaret to Fr Thibault Pontbriand who travelled from the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile to collect it today.
Archbishop Cushley said he was ‘delighted to see that in our great Catholic family throughout the world there were churches dedicated to St Margaret in places far away, including Santiago.’
“St Margaret would be pleased because her relic is going to a poor parish and she was very close to the poor and it was lovely to meet Fr Pontbriand and present the relic to him,” he said.
Fr Pontbriand, parish priest at St Margaret of Scotland, La Florida, said that when they decided to restore his church, they were ‘inspired by the life of St Margaret of Scotland.’
“It has been a challenge, we are a poor parish, but we have had the blessing of St Margaret throughout the process. It has been a great adventure and we give thanks for this great gift.”
The relic had fragmented whilst being removed from its reliquary at St Margaret’s Church in Dunfermline three years ago.
The Archdiocese was then approached by parishes dedicated to St Margaret hoping to acquire the smaller relic made available.
Fr Pontbriand was one of those requesting the relic, which was approved by Celestino Aós Braco, Cardinal Archbishop of Santiago de Chile.
The relic will now make its way back to the Archdiocese of Santiago de Chile with Fr Pontbriand.