The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

16th March 2026

16 March 2026

MSPs face a binary choice on assisted dying: a new autonomy for some or protecting thousands of vulnerable and fearful Scots

The Scottish Parliament stands at a moment of profound moral consequence. On Tuesday, MSPs will cast their final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill—legislation that would change healthcare forever by permitting, for the first time, physician-assisted suicide.

This Bill is a serious threat to vulnerable Scots, including the elderly, disabled, those who suffer from poor mental health, and victims of domestic abuse. In a world that often prizes independence, those who are vulnerable can easily feel like a burden.

An amendment to the Bill that would have prevented doctors from being able to raise assisted suicide unprompted with patients, was rejected; a decision that, in one move, dismantles thousands of years of Hippocratic tradition of ‘first do no harm’.

This decision only adds to already significant concerns expressed by MSPs about the risk of coercion, demonstrating a keen awareness of their responsibility to protect vulnerable people from this threat.

The crucial conscientious objection clauses that offered protection to doctors have been stripped out of the Bill which means MSPs will be asked to vote on an incomplete Bill devoid of a key protection for healthcare workers. This has moved the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Scotland to switch from a position of neutrality to one of opposition to the Bill.

Furthermore, an institutional opt-out was disappointingly voted down by MSPs, meaning Catholic hospices and care homes would be forced to close rather than provide assisted suicides in a hammer blow to an already creaking palliative care system.

True compassion is not found in killing but in walking with those who suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent worth. Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God. There is no such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.

I understand how the choice before our MSPs is unenviable, because it is now a binary one; either they vote to allow some citizens a new autonomy, or they vote to protect thousands of vulnerable and fearful Scots who do not want this legislation and who will suffer most if this Bill passes. They cannot do both at the same time, and I would urge them, in the last analysis, to think of those who, in the months and years ahead, will find themselves defenceless and who, at this moment, are depending on them most.

Bishop John Keenan

President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

Contact:

Media Office

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
64 Aitken Street, ML6 6LT
Tel: 01236 764061
Email: [email protected]

2nd March 2026

2 March 2026

Christian Leaders Urge MSPs to Reject Assisted Suicide Bill Ahead of Final Vote

An Open Letter to MSPs Ahead of the Stage 3 Vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill

Dear Member of the Scottish Parliament,

We write together as Christian leaders in Scotland because we believe Liam McArthur's Assisted Dying bill touches one of the most important moral questions of our time - how we care for one another at the end of life.

While we understand the deeply felt desire to relieve suffering, permitting doctors to assist in ending life undermines human dignity. However carefully framed, such legislation risks normalising he idea that some lives are no longer worth living. It would expose the most vulnerable - the elderly, the disabled, and those who feel themselves to be a burden - to subtle pressures and coercion that no safeguard can fully prevent.

True compassion does not mean helping someone to die, but committing ourselves to care for them in life. Scotland should invest in first-class palliative and end-of-life care, ensuring that no one faces pain, fear, or loneliness without support.

Courts and legislatures in Canada and Australia have grappled with the consequences of assisted dying laws: eligibility has expanded, safeguards have been challenged, and concerns about coercion and misuse have arisen. We should learn from those experiences rather than repeat their mistakes.

We urge you, therefore, to stand for the equal worth and dignity of every human life, and to vote against this legislation at Stage 3. A truly compassionate society accompanies those who suffer; it does not abandon them to an early death.

Yours sincerely,

Rt Rev. Rosemary Frew
Moderator, Church of Scotland

Bishop John Keenan
President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Rev Alasdair Macleod
Moderator, Free Church of Scotland

Rev Martin Keane, Moderator
United Free Church of Scotland

Major David Burns
Executive Secretary to Leadership (Scotland), Salvation Army

Andy Hunter
Director for Scotland, Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches

Alistair Matheson
Scottish Regional Superintendent for the Apostolic Church UK

Contact:

Media Office

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
64 Aitken Street, ML6 6LT
Tel: 01236 764061
Email: [email protected]

27th February 2026

27 February 2026

Choosing Compassion, Not Assisted Suicide - A Pastoral Letter from the Catholic Bishops of Scotland

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

Scotland stands at a moment of profound moral consequence. In the coming weeks, the Scottish Parliament will cast its final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill; legislation that would, for the first time in our nation’s history, permit physician-assisted suicide. As your shepherds, entrusted with the care of souls and the protection of human dignity, we write to you with deep concern.

True compassion is not found in hastening death but in walking with those who suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent worth. Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God. There is no such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.

Over recent months, several Members of the Scottish Parliament who once supported the proposal have now either withdrawn, or are seriously considering withdrawing, their backing, recognising that the risks embedded within it are too grave to ignore. Their change of heart reflects a dawning awareness that coercion, especially the subtle, hidden coercion experienced by the most vulnerable, including the elderly, the sick, the disabled and those living with domestic abuse, cannot be reliably detected, let alone prevented.

Key protections that should form the very foundation of such legislation, however flawed the principle may be, have been removed or rejected. Proposals for mandatory training for doctors to recognise coercive control were voted down by the Parliament Health and Social Care Committee. Measures ensuring that patients are offered proper palliative and social care before considering assisted suicide were dismissed. An opt-out for hospices and care homes who object to assisted suicide was also rejected. Even the conscience rights of healthcare workers remain uncertain. As a result, MSPs are being asked to vote on a Bill that is incomplete and reliant on future intervention from Westminster—an arrangement that several parliamentarians have already described as unworkable and irresponsible.

Experience from abroad also offers a sober warning. In countries where assisted suicide has been introduced, narrow criteria have widened over time, placing ever more people at risk—not because of unbearable physical suffering, but because they feel abandoned, isolated, or burdensome. We must not allow such a trajectory to take root here in Scotland.

We therefore urge you, the Catholic faithful of Scotland, to act. Please contact your MSPs and respectfully ask them to oppose this legislation. Make your voice heard in defence of those who may not be able to speak for themselves. Resources to assist you—including Care Not Killing’s online email tool—are available and we invite you to use them prayerfully and thoughtfully.

Let us also hold in prayer all those approaching the end of life, all who care for them, and all charged with shaping the laws of our land. May the Holy Spirit grant our nation the wisdom to choose the path of life, compassion, and genuine human solidarity.

Yours devotedly in Christ,
+ John Keenan, President, Bishop of Paisley
+ Brian McGee, Vice-President, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles
+ Andrew McKenzie, Episcopal Secretary, Bishop of Dunkeld
+ Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh
+ William Nolan, Archbishop of Glasgow
+ Joseph Toal, Bishop of Motherwell
+ Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen
+ Francis Dougan, Bishop of Galloway

Contact:
Media Office

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
64 Aitken Street, ML6 6LT
Tel: 01236 764061
Email: [email protected]

The Roman Catholic Bishops in Scotland work together to undertake nationwide initiatives through their Commissions and Agencies.

The members of the Bishops' Conference are the Bishops of the eight Scottish Dioceses. Where appropriate the Bishops Emeriti (retired) provide a much welcomed contribution to the work of the conference. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland is a permanently constituted assembly which meets regularly throughout the year to address relevant business matters.

Members of The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

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News from the Commissions and Agencies

March 2026

16Mar

Holy Mass of Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent | 16 March 2026

16 Mar, 2026 | Being Catholic | Being Catholic |

Holy Mass of Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent | 16 March 2026
This music is licensed under one license number: A-623356

16Mar

𝗠𝗦𝗣𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘀

16 Mar, 2026 | Being Catholic | Being Catholic |

𝗠𝗦𝗣𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘀

The Scottish Parliament stands at a moment of profound moral consequence. On Tuesday, MSPs will cast their final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill—legislation that would change healthcare forever by permitting, for the first time, physician-assisted suicide.

This Bill is a serious threat to vulnerable Scots, including the elderly, disabled, those who suffer from poor mental health, and victims of domestic abuse. In a world that often prizes independence, those who are vulnerable can easily feel like a burden.
An amendment to the Bill that would have prevented doctors from being able to raise assisted suicide unprompted with patients, was rejected; a decision that, in one move, dismantles thousands of years of Hippocratic tradition of ‘first do no harm’.

This decision only adds to already significant concerns expressed by MSPs about the risk of coercion, demonstrating a keen awareness of their responsibility to protect vulnerable people from this threat.

The crucial conscientious objection clauses that offered protection to doctors have been stripped out of the Bill which means MSPs will be asked to vote on an incomplete Bill devoid of a key protection for healthcare workers. This has moved the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Scotland to switch from a position of neutrality to one of opposition to the Bill.
Furthermore, an institutional opt-out was disappointingly voted down by MSPs, meaning Catholic hospices and care homes would be forced to close rather than provide assisted suicides in a hammer blow to an already creaking palliative care system.

True compassion is not found in killing but in walking with those who suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent worth. Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God. There is no such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.

I understand how the choice before our MSPs is unenviable, because it is now a binary one; either they vote to allow some citizens a new autonomy, or they vote to protect thousands of vulnerable and fearful Scots who do not want this legislation and who will suffer most if this Bill passes. They cannot do both at the same time, and I would urge them, in the last analysis, to think of those who, in the months and years ahead, will find themselves defenceless and who, at this moment, are depending on them most.

Bishop John Keenan
President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

16Mar

𝗠𝗦𝗣𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘀

16 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

𝗠𝗦𝗣𝘀 𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮 𝗯𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝘀𝘀𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗱𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴: 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗼𝗺𝘆 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘃𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗦𝗰𝗼𝘁𝘀

The Scottish Parliament stands at a moment of profound moral consequence. On Tuesday, MSPs will cast their final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill—legislation that would change healthcare forever by permitting, for the first time, physician-assisted suicide.

This Bill is a serious threat to vulnerable Scots, including the elderly, disabled, those who suffer from poor mental health, and victims of domestic abuse. In a world that often prizes independence, those who are vulnerable can easily feel like a burden.
An amendment to the Bill that would have prevented doctors from being able to raise assisted suicide unprompted with patients, was rejected; a decision that, in one move, dismantles thousands of years of Hippocratic tradition of ‘first do no harm’.

This decision only adds to already significant concerns expressed by MSPs about the risk of coercion, demonstrating a keen awareness of their responsibility to protect vulnerable people from this threat.

The crucial conscientious objection clauses that offered protection to doctors have been stripped out of the Bill which means MSPs will be asked to vote on an incomplete Bill devoid of a key protection for healthcare workers. This has moved the Royal College of Psychiatrists in Scotland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Scotland to switch from a position of neutrality to one of opposition to the Bill.

Furthermore, an institutional opt-out was disappointingly voted down by MSPs, meaning Catholic hospices and care homes would be forced to close rather than provide assisted suicides in a hammer blow to an already creaking palliative care system.

True compassion is not found in killing but in walking with those who suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent worth. Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God. There is no such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.

I understand how the choice before our MSPs is unenviable, because it is now a binary one; either they vote to allow some citizens a new autonomy, or they vote to protect thousands of vulnerable and fearful Scots who do not want this legislation and who will suffer most if this Bill passes. They cannot do both at the same time, and I would urge them, in the last analysis, to think of those who, in the months and years ahead, will find themselves defenceless and who, at this moment, are depending on them most.

Bishop John Keenan
President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

16Mar

Gospel

16 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Gospel
John 4:43-54
‘Go; your son will live.’

At that time: Jesus departed Samaria for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honour in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.
So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’ The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, ‘Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.’ The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

16Mar

The debate around The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is about far more than individual choice

16 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

The debate around The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill is about far more than individual choice. It is about the kind of society we want to be.

This powerful reflection in The Scotsman warns that once assisted dying becomes a legal option, the pressure felt by the sick, elderly and vulnerable may be impossible to contain, especially when people already fear becoming a burden.

Our response must always be compassion, accompaniment and care, never the deliberate ending of life.

Contact your MSP 👉🏼 www.carenotkilling.scot

If MSPs pass Assisted Dying Bill, I fear the cost to us all will be too high

15Mar

Bishop Toal's Sunday Reflection 15 March 2026

15 Mar, 2026 | Being Catholic | Being Catholic |

Bishop Toal's Sunday Reflection 15 March 2026

15Mar

Bishop Toal's Sunday Reflection 15 March 2026

15 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Bishop Toal's Sunday Reflection 15 March 2026

15Mar

Difficult and emotional cases can move hearts - but they should not shape irreversible law

15 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Difficult and emotional cases can move hearts - but they should not shape irreversible law.

When boundaries are loosened, they rarely stay narrow. What begins as limited and exceptional can quickly expand beyond what was first promised.

Other countries have shown how quickly eligibility widens and cultural expectations shift.

Watch the video to understand why this matters for Scotland.

The more we KNOW, the more we say NO.

Write to your MSPs by visiting:
carenotkilling.scot

15Mar

Holy Mass of Fourth Sunday of Lent | 15 March 2026

15 Mar, 2026 | Being Catholic | Being Catholic |

Holy Mass of Fourth Sunday of Lent | 15 March 2026
This music is licensed under one license number: A-623356

15Mar

On this Mothering Sunday, we give thanks to God for the gift of mothers and keep them in our prayers today

15 Mar, 2026 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

On this Mothering Sunday, we give thanks to God for the gift of mothers and keep them in our prayers today.

Heavenly Father,
we thank you for the gift of mothers,
for their love, their sacrifice, and their faith.

Bless all mothers today.
Grant them strength in their daily tasks,
wisdom in their guidance,
and joy in the love they give so freely.

We remember with gratitude the mothers who have gone before us.
May they rest in the peace of your eternal kingdom.

We pray for mothers who struggle,
for those who carry sorrow or worry in their hearts,
and for those who long to be mothers.
Surround them with your comfort and grace.

Through the loving example of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
may all mothers be strengthened in faith and hope.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.