Alex Salmond’s Pope visit blocked

ALEX Salmond has been blocked from meeting the Pope because of the Scottish Government’s plans to legalise same-sex marriage.

A Catholic Church source said that “approaches were made” about the meeting, but that the plans for “same-sex marriage completely destroyed it”.

However, a spokesman for the First Minister said that “no visit to the Vatican was ever arranged” after discussions were reported to have taken place about a trip to Rome after the Pope’s visit to Scotland in 2010.

The spokesman said: “The First Minister was delighted to greet his Holiness in Scotland during the papal visit in 2010, and would be very pleased to visit the Vatican and meet his Holiness again.”