A DEVOTION to the Catholic Church has taken retiring priest Basil Loftus across the world.

Monsignor Loftus performs his final mass at St Boniface Church, Bentham, on Sunday before moving to Scotland.

During his long and varied career he has been much more than a parish priest, attending the Vatican Council, working as a papal diplomat and transforming the church by implementing reforms.

Father Loftus studied for the priesthood as a member of the Venerable English College in Rome, attending the Pontifical Gregorian University. He received a doctorate in Canon Law and followed this with studies at the Pontifical Ecclesiastical Academy where he trained to become a papal diplomat.

He then joined the Holy See Diplomatic Service which took him to Thailand and its neighbouring countries during the Cambodian War.

As a papal diplomat he travelled to Colombia, Rwanda, Brundi and Uganda, where he was responsible for the visit of Pope Paul VI in 1969. In Colombia he was responsible for negotiating a national agreement between the Government and the Holy See.

Father Loftus served on the English Desk of the Secretariat of State in the Vatican City and was also the Pope's representative to the EEC in Brussels. He was presented to the Queen during her visit to Luxembourg in 1977.

He is a Doctor of Canon Law, a professor of theology and philosophy and was secretary to the Bishops of England and Wales during the second Vatican Council.

After serving in Settle, Father Loftus left the town in 1981 to become warden of the Woodhall Parochial and Ecumenical centre near Wetherby, which became a home for refugees. He strived to boost employment opportunities for young people and used unemployed craftsmen to restore Woodhall.

During his time in Bentham he travelled to Fulda, Germany, and was able to return with a relic of St Boniface, a missioner, presented to him by the Bishop, and also a sandstone statue of the saint, copied from a statute made during his lifetime.

Father Loftus said: "I have particularly enjoyed working with the other churches in the area and the total reorganisation of the church to fit the new liturgy.

"I have enjoyed my time here and it was nice to be able to renew my acquaintances in Settle.

"I enjoyed the challenge of bringing the reforms of the Vatican Council to small country parishes and I have also been pleased at the integration of our own parish into Churches Together and working with both Anglicans and Methodists."

Father Loftus will be working on a part-time basis in Scotland while spending his spare time developing his hobbies of gardening and woodturning.

Mike Anderson, composer of the "Gloria", which is sung around the world wherever the Mass is celebrated, will provide the music at the farewell service on Sunday. Everyone is welcome to attend the Mass which starts at 9.30am.