A collection of historic manuscripts which document the establishment of the Protestant church in Scotland have gone on display in Edinburgh.

They are on show at the National Library of Scotland to mark the 450th anniversary of the Reformation.

Among the items are John Knox's Scottish Confession of Faith and his First Blast of the Trumpet.

The exhibition will continue until 31 October.

The Scottish Reformation is widely dated to 1560 when Knox's confession abolishing the Pope's authority in Scotland was ratified by the Scottish Parliament.
,br/> First Blast of the Trumpet, published in 1558, was originally published anonymously by Knox. It is directed against the "monstrous regiment" of Catholic women rulers in Europe - Mary Tudor, Mary of Guise, Catherine de Medici and the youthful Mary Stuart, and claims that women should not bear rule over men.

Also on display is the Bassandyne Bible of 1576 - the first complete vernacular Bible printed in Scotland as well as a Papal Bull by Pope Leo X in 1517 threatening Martin Luther with excommunication.

Anette Hagan, senior curator of rare book collections at the National Library of Scotland, said the Reformation had "established Calvinism as one of the dominant influences of Scottish life, leading to centuries of hellfire sermons - but also to a society with a strong sense of social responsibility and the highest rate of literacy in Europe."

On one of the bloodiest days of the Iraq War - April 9, 2004 - Father F. Richard Spencer became the link between this world and the next for many of the mortally wounded.

Insurgents had attacked a large convoy of gas trucks that Good Friday, firing multiple mortar rounds at a United States base on the outskirts of Baghdad International Airport. Father Spencer, a U.S. Army military chaplain, administered the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick and prayed with men and women whose faces wore what he remembered as glazed looks of shock and disbelief.

"In the moment, you do your prayers, then move to the next situation, because it's continuous chaos," said Father Spencer, then attached to the Army's 1st Calvary Division.

"You just offered prayers that they would see the face of God that very day and you trust and hope," he said. "We had both Iraqis and Americans die. I didn't know who was Muslim or who was Christian - but they all got a prayer."

Once Father Spencer and his soldiers made it into a concrete bomb shelter, he stood on a trash can and offered general absolution as the shelling continued.

"It was a life-changing day for me," he remembered. "Our men and women in uniform are able to face hardships and they're trained to make good decisions in the midst of chaos. Their resiliency is inspiring."

Father Spencer is about to expand his service to U.S. military men and women around the world.

In May, Pope Benedict XVI appointed him to be the next auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese for U.S. Military Services. The 59-year-old Baltimore priest will be installed Sept. 8 during a 2 p.m. liturgy at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.

Remaining on active duty, the Alabama native will become the first auxiliary bishop for the U.S. military archdiocese able to enter war zones. He will have unprecedented access to military personnel serving in most difficult circumstances.