Scotland's most influential Catholic cleric has described the Referendum debate as "cordial and heartening" and evidence of democratic maturity.

Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh Leo Cushley, who worked for a spell for Pope Francis and was appointed by him, compared the tone of the debate with some of his postings as a Vatican diplomat, which included spells in Egypt, Burundi and South Africa.

Archbishop Cushley also ruled out the role of religion in the debate, insisting he was encountering equal numbers of Catholics on either side.

He said there was an unprecedented level of public interest in the political debate, which he criticised for often being reduced to issues of "tax breaks or different tax bands".

He said: "What I find interesting, having lived and worked abroad for years and only coming back here last year after 20 years away, is I'm struck by the cordiality of the debate.

"A couple of eggs have been thrown and a couple of words have been bandied around. But in general the debate has been robust but no more robust than a couple of loudly spoken words to each other.

"And it's rather heartening, rather encouraging to see that we can have democratic debate that doesn't end up badly for everyone concerned. Its a remarkable testament to the society that we have here in Scotland."

In an interview with Vatican Radio, Archbishop Cushley, who was appointed to succeed sex scandal-hit Keith O'Brien, said he believed the Yes campaign had been able to mobilise its people better than No, which appeared to be having its effect with the narrowing gap in the polls.

He said Westminster appeared to be "far away, at least mentally, psychologically", adding: "For the first time in a generation, for a couple of generations, this is coming home once again and people are taking this seriously. So it's certainly exercising people's minds and getting them to engage in a democratic debate."

Along with his counterpart in Glasgow, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, Archbishop Cushley recently encouraged Catholics to vote in the forthcoming referendum and to pay attention to the issue of religious freedom.

But he downplayed fears in some Catholic circles that independence posed a threat to the future of denominational education.

He said he did not expect "earthquakes in our freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, freedom of worship" in the event of a Yes vote, claiming that either independent or within the UK "the general social and political consensus that exists in western Europe would not change".

He added: "It becomes a civil debate and not one about religious freedom. Religion does not seem to be a factor in what is being offered to the Scottish people.

He said too much of the debate "comes down to the financial consequences, as if this was about tax breaks or different tax bands" but that it had been widening of late.

He said: "There's much more at stake than just taxes or how much wealthier or poorer people would be if they were in or out of the Union.

"(The public is) starting to understand that there are many more consequences to independence but also to the Union and to what is being offered by those who would wish to maintain the Union."

Archbishop Cushley said that while a significant number who would describe themselves as Catholics were "in favour of independence, its reasonably balanced actually".

He said: "I do meet Catholics on both sides of this who are passionate about it. It does confirm for me that this isn't about being a Catholic. It's about Catholics who happen to be part of a society looking at this from a Catholic perspective and ending up on both sides of the debate."