Pioneering US evangelist Billy Graham dies aged 99

Therevbillygraham,who transformed American religious life through his preaching and activism, has died at the age of 99. Mr Graham, who had been suffering from cancer, pneumonia and a number of other illnesses, was a counsellor to American presidents and travelled the globe to become perhaps the most widely heard Christian evangelist in history – with a number of appearances in the UK.

He visited Scotland for “Crusades” in 1955, 1961 and 1991. During the 1955 visit, called the All-scotland Crusade, 90,000 people saw Graham at Hampden and it was reported that 50,000 were converted during the visit.

Spokesman Mark Demoss said Mr Graham died at his home in North Carolina yesterday morning.

US president Donald Trump tweeted: “The GREAT Billy Graham is dead. There was nobody like him! He will be missed by Christians and all religions. A very special man.”

He reached more than 200 million people through his appearances and millions more through his pioneering use of television and radio.

Unlike many traditional evangelists, he abandoned narrow fundamentalism to engage broader society.