Pope jokes whisky is ‘the real holy water’ as he is presented with a bottle in footage censored by the Vatican
- Pope Francis was handed a bottle of scotch by a group of Scottish priests
- Admiring the bottle he joked with them saying ‘this is the real holy water’
- The moment was captured by documentary filmmakers following the priests
- But the Vatican media team determined that it should not make the final cut
The Vatican has censored footage of the Pope admiring a bottle of scotch and declaring it ‘the real holy water’ in a good-natured joke with visiting Scottish priests.
The footage was captured during the filming of a documentary following seminarians at the 404-year-old Scots College in Rome.
In the censored clip, Pope Francis was captured accepting a bottle of Oban malt whiskey, distilled in the Scottish town by the same name, during a reception at the Vatican’s Apostolic Palace last year.
In a still from the BBC, the Pope is seen accepting a bottle of scotch from a group of Scottish student priests. Afterwards, he reportedly proclaimed ‘This is the real holy water,’ but his jest was not approved by the Vatican’s media team to make the final cut of a documentary.
However, according to the Daily Record the Vatican’s media team determined that the 83-year-old Pope’s jest would not be allowed to make the cut in the final documentary as they did not want him to be seen endorsing whiskey.
The one-hour documentary ‘Priest School’, which will air this Sunday on the BBC without the clip, was directed by Tony Kearney and produced by his Solus Productions which followed the Scottish priests over an 18-month period between 2018 and 2019.
Kearney told the Record that the Pope was ‘really down to earth with them all’, and rather than just handing the bottle off to one of his assistants as he would normally with a gift, he instead held it up and admired it.
‘[The Pope] said “Questa e la vera acqua santa’” which means “This is the real holy water,”‘ said the director. ‘He guffawed with laughter and it was a real ice-breaker with the students and put everyone at ease.’
Unfortunately for those who would like to see the clip in the documentary, the production company had agreed to give the Vatican the final say on what was allowed in the documentary before it is broadcast.
‘We sent them the files and when they sent it back, that bit of him saying that was cut out,’ Kearney explained.
‘We were really annoyed at first, but they insisted they didn’t want the Pope to be seen to be endorsing whisky. I think it’s quite funny how guarded his image is.’
![During the coronavirus crisis, the Pope has been broadcasting his weekly general audience. In this picture, he sits in the library of the Apostolic Palace as he gives his address](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2020/04/17/08/27307368-8228973-image-a-54_1587109118227.jpg)
During the coronavirus crisis, the Pope has been broadcasting his weekly general audience. In this picture, he sits in the library of the Apostolic Palace as he gives his address
Pope Francis has widely been seen as a more unconventional pope during his time since becoming the global leader of the Catholic Church in 2013.
When he was first elected, he chose his own Papal name ‘Francis’, and has also been a more modern and public-facing Pope with his use of social media and stances on social issues.
‘Francis is ripping up the rule book, he’s ahead of the curve, and the flunkies around about him need to catch up,’ said Kearney.
‘We’ve managed to get rare access into an ancient Scottish institution and what it’s like to train as a priest – we’ve never seen it before.
‘These are down to earth, ordinary blokes who like a drink, like the football and live ordinary lives. It smashes the mystery.’
In an article in the Dundee Courier from 2019, another Scottish priest described how when he met the Pope after taking up the position as spiritual director at the Pontifical Scots College in 2018, he also handed him a bottle of whiskey.
According to Father Jim Walls, the Pope made a similar joke then, saying: ‘We presented him with a bottle of whisky and he looked at it and said “Ha ha, that’s holy water!”‘ Father Walls said. ‘He’s obviously been gifted some whisky before.’
Father Walls is correct. In 2014, Queen Elizabeth II presented the Pope with a bottle of scotch when they first met 2014 from her Balmoral estate, according to Forbes.