I write this on Saturday but many of you may be reading this on Sunday which for Christians across Chile and the world, is the day reserved for rest and worship.

In Scotland, I have been to three types of church services, Church of Scotland, the largest church in Scotland, Episcopalian and Free Presbyterian, all of which are Protestant denominations. My family is traditionally Church of Scotland but nowadays, I tend to call myself Christian only, thus not identifying with a particular denomination and I will happily attend any church no matter the denomination.

However in Chile, over 70% of the population follow the Roman Catholic Church and thus there are differences between churches in Chile and in Scotland. The first main difference between churches in Scotland and Chile is the decoration. In Scotland, churches have stained glass and maybe one or two crosses inside, but there are no statues or ornate paintings. However in Chile, there are many statues, mostly of Jesus, the Virgin Mary and the saints. Many light candles as offerings and pray towards them.

There are also many differences in worship. In Scotland, services normally consist of hymns, prayers and some sermons or readings. When you enter the church, you are often given an order of service or a hymn book with the pages of the hymns being shown at the front. In Chile however, it is liturgical whereby people know the songs they are singing for each mass. Most of the singing in the Chilean churches is antiphonal, whereby either the Priest or a Cantor begins and the congregation responds. to some extent, it reminded me of a Free Presbyterian services, apart from the fact that the Catholic Church in Chile has an organ whilst musical instruments are not used in Free Church services. Many of the prayers in Chile are done kneeling whilst this does not happen in Scottish churches.

I expected there to be obvious differences, but what I realised is that we have more commonalities than differences. This occurred to me when at mass last Sunday, the priest gave a sermon on The Feeding of the Five Thousand, when Christ managed to feed five thousand people from five loaves of bread and two fishes. The priest was trying to convey the message of sharing and being thankful. The Feeding of the Five Thousand is one of the most well-known Bible stories in Scotland and similar sermons would be given at churches in Scotland. As it was a Catholic mass, I expected there to be some Latin either written or spoken but there was none and the whole service was conducted in the local language, as is the practice in churches in Scotland. Many of the prayers and content of the hymns were also similar and the Lord’s Prayer was also said. This made me feel both happy and sad at the same time, the latter due to the amount of conflict that has existed between Catholics and Protestants for centuries, from the start of the Reformation triggered by Luther’s 95 Theses to sectarian divisions that have arisen in Scotland, most notably in Glasgow.

Having seen Scottish Protestant services and Chilean Roman Catholic masses, two countries on opposite ends of the globe with different interpretations of Christianity, I realise that we must focus on what unites us, not divides us. Only then can we make the world a better place to live.