The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

The Annual Day of Prayer for Justice and Peace is this Sunday, 4 January 2026, which is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord.

Archbishop Nolan, President of Justice & Peace Scotland, has written the following pastoral letter:

My Dear Sisters and Brothers,

There is a zoo in Mexico which I visited a few years ago, and it has one exhibit which is labelled “the most dangerous animal on the planet”. As you look into the enclosure to see that animal, you see yourself. For what is in the enclosure is a mirror, and the most dangerous animal is humanity. Human beings are a danger to the world and to themselves.

When we lock the door of our house at night, we do so to protect ourselves from our fellow human beings. When our country stockpiles its arms and builds up its military defences, it does so to protect itself from our fellow human beings.

We all long for peace, we have a deep desire for peace – yet peace is shattered by
our fellow human beings.

Each year we start the new year with a prayer for peace, but, as we do so, we look
around and see war and conflict, death and destruction – all caused by humanity.

Every dispute arises, every fallout with our neighbour starts, every military
intervention begins in the same place - the human heart. Because in our heart there is anger, bitterness, greed, envy, pride, fear. It only takes a little spark to flame a fire.

The more at risk we feel, the more we take action to protect ourselves, with better
locks on our door, or more weapons for our army. Better locks on our door may help keep out the thief, but more arms for our army just tends to encourage our potential enemy to do the same and increase their weapons, and we end up no safer than we were before.

So, our prayer for peace is not just that armies will stop fighting, that acts of
terrorism and warfare will cease, that countries will live in harmony with one another. Our prayer is for every human heart, our own included, to be purified of all that is within it that leads to conflict. We pray for disagreements to be settled without resorting to violence, for human life be valued as precious, and for the taking of human life to never be seen as a means to resolve human disputes.

We are each of us part of humanity, and we all struggle to have that peace in our
heart, that leads to peace in our family, in our neighbourhood and in our world.

We pray for peace, since only with God’s help can we overcome the human
weakness that makes humanity a danger to the world and a danger to ourselves.

May God answer our prayer and fulfil the longing of our heart for peace.

With my prayers and good wishes,
+William Nolan
Archbishop of Glasgow, President of Justice & Peace Scotland

This Sunday is the Feast of the Epiphany of the Lord and the Church’s annual Day of Prayer for Justice and Peace.

Justice & Peace Scotland is a Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, supporting prayer and reflection on peace, human rights, and care for creation.

As the Church celebrates the Epiphany, the light of Christ is revealed anew to the world. At the beginning of the year, the Church turns again to prayer for peace, asking for hearts open to conversion and renewal.

Gospel of the day (John 1:19-28)

This is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’ And they asked him, ‘What then? Are you Elijah?’ He said, ‘I am not.’ ‘Are you the Prophet?’ And he answered, ‘No.’ So they said to him, ‘Who are you? We need to give an answer to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?’ He said, ‘I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord”, as the prophet Isaiah said.’ (Now they had been sent from the Pharisees.) They asked him, ‘Then why are you baptising, if you are neither the Christ, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?’ John answered them, ‘I baptise with water, but among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie.’ These things took place in Bethany across the Jordan, where John was baptising.

As the Christmas season continues, the Church invites us to reflect on Mary’s divine motherhood. Far from taking the focus away from Christmas, Mary helps us understand more deeply the mystery of God becoming man.

At the Annunciation, Mary freely says yes to God’s plan, allowing the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity to take flesh. Elizabeth recognises this extraordinary moment when she calls Mary “the mother of my Lord” (Luke 1:43).

St Paul echoes this truth when he writes that God sent his Son, “born of a woman” (Galatians 4:4), and reminds us that through Christ we become children of God. In this way, Mary’s motherhood extends to all who belong to her Son.

From the earliest centuries, the Church has honoured Mary with the title Mother of God (Theotokos), solemnly affirmed at the Council of Ephesus in 431 and cherished in the Church’s faith to this day.