The head of the Roman Catholic Church is set to visit Scotland and Galicia in September and November 2010 respectively.

Pope Benedict XVI will visit Edinburgh and Glasgow from 16th to 19th September and Santiago de Compostela on 6th November.

On his Scottish visit, the head of the Roman Catholic Church will be received by the Queen at Edinburgh's Holyrood Palace and is expected to hold a public mass in Glasgow.

This will be the first Papal visit to Scotland since Pontiff John Paul II's in 1982, which included a mass in Glasgow's Bellahouston Park, attended by 300,000 people.

The First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond said: "I warmly welcome the announcement that His Holiness will travel to Scotland this September and visit Edinburgh and Glasgow. The Papal events in 1982 were an enormous success and this visit will be a wonderful occasion for the whole of Scotland."

Pope Benedict XVI is also set to visit Galicia's capital Santiago de Compostella as part of the 2010 Jacobean jubilee year celebrations.

Jacobean jubilees are special years of remission of sins held when St James' Day -July 25th- falls on a Sunday. This will be the first Papal visit to Galicia since Pope John Paul II's in 1989.