SCOTLAND
Herald Scotland

Kevin McKenna / Saturday 20 February 2016

I WAS curiously enchanted by claims in the BBC’s Panorama programme last Monday that Pope John Paul II had enjoyed a close friendship with a female academic. The late pontiff, now in the process of being made a saint by Rome, captured the imagination of the world and the hearts of the Church when he became Pope in 1978. His personal charisma became evident almost as soon as he appeared on the balcony at St Peter’s to greet the world and his flock. That he was also possessed of a chiselled and handsome face and a voice of operatic depth helped make him the our first rock’n’roll pope.

A few years later a friend of mine, captivated by the charms of a fellow student in his English class, was thrilled when she invited him for tea at her flat….