The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

🩵DIGNITY NOT DETENTION🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

On St Andrew’s Day, Justice & Peace Scotland invites you to ‘Dignity Not Detention’, a peaceful solidarity gathering outside Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.

In a climate of increasing hostility around immigration this small act of witness is a way to offer an alternative message of fraternity and compassion.

The UK remains the only country in Europe with no statutory time limit on immigration detention. This means that people can be held in prison-like conditions indefinitely, with no idea when they will be released. The prolonged uncertainty causes profound mental distress, exacerbates trauma, and tears individuals away from their communities, studies, work, and families.

We gather to bring attention to this unjust and inhumane practice, mindful of Pope Leo’s recent reflections on the moral responsibilities governments bear in shaping their immigration systems:

“I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.”

📆Sunday 30th November
🕐1.00PM
📍Dungavel IRC, Strathaven, ML10 6RF

⛪🌎 MASS FOR COP30 AND CARE OF CREATION

What a fantastic day we had in Glasgow yesterday! A huge thank you to everyone who joined us at St Andrew’s Cathedral to pray for our common home and for world leaders as COP30 begins in Brazil.

We were delighted to host the Mass and the presentation afterwards in Eyre Hall in collaboration with the Bishops' Conference of Scotland’s Care of Creation Office, SCIAF and the Scottish Catholic Education Service. It was lovely to see such a turn out of supporters from across our networks, especially on a Monday afternoon!

A special thank you goes to pupils and teachers from schools across Scotland, including as far away as Dumfries, who came together to pray and reflect on our call to care for creation and to act for our brothers and sisters who are suffering the impacts of climate change.

We were also honoured by the attendance of the Presiding Officer The Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone, and Scottish Labour Party Leader, Anas Sarwar.

In his homily, Archbishop Nolan commended all those individuals who strive to protect our common home, while reminding us that genuine progress depends on world leaders embracing their shared responsibility for all humanity. He urged us to pray that the tide will turn and that leaders will act for the good of all peoples rather than narrow national interests.

The Archbishop’s words echoed Pope Francis’ appeal in Laudate Deum, written ahead of COP28, which calls leaders to rise above short-term interests and act with moral courage for the sake of future generations:

💬“May those taking part in the Conference be strategists capable of considering the common good and the future of their children, more than the short-term interests of certain countries or businesses... To the powerful, I can only repeat this question: ‘What would induce anyone, at this stage, to hold on to power, only to be remembered for their inability to take action when it was urgent and necessary to do so?’”

Following Mass, we were joined live from COP30 by SCIAF’s Ben Wilson, who reminded us that our call to care for God’s creation is inseparable from the pursuit of climate justice - to achieve fair outcomes and substantial change for those who are most impacted by climate change but who have contributed to it least. Ben spoke with hope about the witness and role of faith communities in achieving these goals as often they are the ones who can hold leaders and states to account through shared values and pursuit of dignity and the common good for all.

Pope Leo XIV in Dilexi Te calls us to allow our contemplation of Christ’s love to move us to action:

💬“Contemplating the love of Christ helps us to become more attentive to the suffering and needs of others and strengthens us to participate in his work of liberation.”

As we heard from Ben yesterday, this work of liberation is urgently needed where people face loss and damage caused by climate change.

May our prayer and advocacy continue to be a sign of hope and a call to action for the care of all God’s creation and all His people. 🙏💚🌱

🌎COP30 MASS TODAY
Join us this afternoon in prayer for all those taking part in the COP30 Climate Summit and for the care of our common home.

🕐 1:00pm, Today
⛪ St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow

The Mass will be celebrated by Archbishop Nolan, hosted by the Bishops' Conference of Scotland’s Care of Creation Office, and supported by Justice & Peace Scotland, SCIAF, and the Scottish Catholic Education Service.

We are especially looking forward to welcoming pupils and staff from schools across Scotland.

After Mass, stay for refreshments in Eyre Hall and a live update from SCIAF’s Ben Wilson, joining us online from COP30 in Brazil.

We'd love to see you there! 💚

📜In his new Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi te, Pope Leo XIV calls us to rediscover an active, practical love for people who are marginalised, vulnerable, or experiencing poverty.

⚖️Completing the work begun by Pope Francis, Dilexi te offers a profound reflection on the societal structures that keep people in poverty by challenging economic systems that entrench inequality and injustice.

❤️The Holy Father reaffirms the Church’s duty to exercise a preferential option for the poor and vulnerable, one of the core principles of Catholic Social Teaching; this means prioritising the needs not only of those in material poverty, but of all who are marginalized, including prisoners, migrants, and the sick.

✝️Placing the inseparable link between charity and justice at the heart of his exhortation, Pope Leo reminds us that our faith demands both acts of charity to assist those in immediate need and acts of solidarity to change these very structures that create and sustain hardship, inequality, and oppression. He stresses that both actions are essential expressions of our solidarity with our brothers and sisters in Christ and a living demonstration of our love for God.

📸DIGNITY NOT DETENTION: National Day of Solidarity to End Immigration Detention

Justice & Peace Scotland joined with Scottish Detainee Visitors and Glasgow Solidarity Stall last Saturday for a community advocacy event marking the National Day of Solidarity to End Immigration Detention.

We reflected on the growing injustice of immigration detention in the UK, shared stories, and wrote postcards to people currently detained in Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre.

We’re especially grateful to Ronnie Tagwireyi, Scottish Detainee Visitors board member, for sharing his first-hand experiences of detention, reminding us of the human cost of this inhumane system and the urgent need for change.

💬Our Campaigns & Communications Officer, Andrew Smith, said:

“At a time when the cruel and unjust practice of immigration detention is becoming more prevalent in the UK, it was affecting to come together with empathy to show our opposition to the detention system. As Pope Leo XIV has said of those seeking sanctuary, safety and security, ‘it is important that there be a growing desire in people’s hearts for a future of peace and respect for the dignity of all.’”

We are deeply grateful to all who joined us in solidarity last weekend and were encouraged by those who left inspired to take further action: to volunteer, campaign, demonstrate, and advocate for change.

Justice & Peace Scotland continues to call for an end to indefinite detention and for an immigration system rooted in human dignity, compassion, and respect.