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The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

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

30th July 2026


30 July 2026

Bishop Welcomes Prime Minister’s Call to Prioritise Care Reforms Before Westminster Assisted Suicide Vote

Bishop John Keenan, the Bishop with responsibility for Marriage, Family and Life for the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, has welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s call for the serious gaps in palliative and social care to be addressed before the Westminster Parliament considers assisted suicide legislation.

Bishop Keenan said:

“The Prime Minister’s intervention is both timely and welcome. We have a duty to ensure that every person approaching the end of life has access to the compassionate palliative and social care they deserve. No one should ever feel driven towards assisted suicide because they lack the care, support or dignity they need.

“We were grateful that the Scottish Parliament resolutely rejected assisted suicide only recently. We hope this latest intervention will encourage Members of the Westminster Parliament to reflect carefully before taking a step that would fundamentally change the way our society cares for the sick and vulnerable.

“As our Catholic Parliamentary Officer, Anthony Horan, has rightly said: ‘The last thing the country needs is another divisive debate about assisted suicide. We need to make progress in improving palliative and social care, not offering vulnerable people state support to end their lives.’ I share that conviction wholeheartedly.

“This is an opportunity to rethink the whole approach to assisted suicide. The compassionate response to suffering is never to help people end their lives, but to ensure they receive the high-quality care, love and accompaniment they need. Let us pray for all who are seriously ill, for their families and carers, and for those in public office, that they may always uphold the dignity of every human life and work to build a society that truly cares for its most vulnerable members.”

Bishop John Keenan

President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

Contact:

Media Office

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

News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by category: BCoS FacebookReturn
December 2025
Gospel of the day (Matthew 10:17-22)

At that time: Jesus instructed his Apostles: ‘Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to councils and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.’

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What does “Happy Christmas” really mean?

Bishop Frank Dougan reflects on Christmas as truly blessed because God is with us. From the fall in Genesis to the joy of the Incarnation, he reminds us of this extraordinary truth: God became man so that we might share in His divine life.

This Christmas, we are invited not to live without God, but to rejoice in the gift of salvation and give thanks, like the shepherds, for all that God has done for us.

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As Christmas Day continues around the world, the appeal remains:

One Day of Peace.
- Pope Leo XIV.

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26,000 people in St Peter’s Square to hear Pope Leo’s Christmas Urbi at Orbi message and receive his blessing today.

📸 Vatican Media



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"Merry Christmas! May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts and in your families." - Pope Leo XIV

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We wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.

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Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, the Birth of Jesus Christ.

Christmas is a feast overflowing with joy: the Eternal Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. All that the patriarchs and prophets longed for is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Like the shepherds, we come to the manger and adore the Son of God, who came down from heaven for our salvation.

The heart of Christmas is captured beautifully in the Preface of the Nativity: "For by the mystery of the Word made flesh the light of Thy glory hath shone anew upon the eyes of our mind, so that while we acknowledge Him as God seen by men, we may be drawn by Him to the love of things unseen."

May this holy season draw us closer to Christ and to the hope He brings.

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Gospel of the day (John 1:1-5, 9-14)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

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On Christmas Day, the Holy Father appeals to the world for one full day of peace.

A simple request.

#ChristmasDay #OneDayOfPeace

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Gospel of the Day (Luke 1:67-79)

At that time: Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist, was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied, saying,

‘Blessed be the Lord God of Israel,
for he has visited and redeemed his people
and has raised up a horn of salvation for us
in the house of his servant David,
as he spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,
that we should be saved from our enemies
and from the hand of all who hate us;
to show the mercy promised to our fathers
and to remember his holy covenant,
the oath that he swore to our father Abraham to grant us
that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,
might serve him without fear,
in holiness and righteousness before him all our days.
And you, child, will be called the prophet of the Most High;
for you will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,
to give knowledge of salvation to his people
in the forgiveness of their sins,
because of the tender mercy of our God,
whereby the sunrise shall visit us from on high
to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the way of peace.’

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