Pope Francis tells Scots and Catalans to think carefully about breaking away

Pope Francis has suggested that Scotland and Catalonia think carefully about breaking away from national unions, making a distinction between seeking independence in the pursuit of freedom against secession.

In an interview published in Spain's newspaper as Scots prepare to vote on whether to split from Britain and Catalonia's leader tries to organise a similar referendum, the pope said independence had to be treated with great care.

"Obviously, there are peoples with such different cultures that you can't stick them together with glue," the pontiff told the Catalonia paper, mentioning Yugoslavia, which was torn apart by war in the 1990s.

He distinguished between "independence for emancipation", as in the cases of countries in the Americas which wanted to be free of the control of European states, and "independence for secession".

Asked whether he was concerned about conflict in Catalonia, Francis said all division concerned him. He mentioned Scotland and also Padania, an area of northern Italy the right-wing Northern League wants to make independent from the rest of the country.

Anne McGuire, a member of Britain's Labour Party, welcomed the pope's comments and said, "the best way to secure our future is to work together as part of something bigger".