The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Gospel
Mark 10:46-52
‘Rabbi, let me recover my sight.’

At that time: As Jesus was leaving Jericho with his disciples and a great crowd, Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, ‘Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, ‘Son of David, have mercy on me!’ And Jesus stopped and said, ‘Call him.’ And they called the blind man, saying to him, ‘Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.’ And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. And Jesus said to him, ‘What do you want me to do for you?’ And the blind man said to him, ‘Rabbi, let me recover my sight.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Go your way; your faith has made you well.’ And immediately he recovered his sight and followed him on the way.

Holy Mass of the Memorial of Augustine of Canterbury | 27 May 2026
This music is licensed under one license number: A-623356

The first day of the Motherwell Diocese Mini Vinnies pilgrimage to Carfin Grotto has taken place, as young people from schools across the diocese gathered together in prayer, faith and friendship. 🙏

Over the coming weeks, more than 1,000 young people will take part in the annual pilgrimage, representing 57 Mini Vinnies groups from across the diocese. It continues to be inspiring to see so many children living out the values of faith, kindness and service in their schools and communities.

Please continue to keep all the young people, teachers and volunteers in your prayers during these special pilgrimage days.

Holy Mass of the Memorial of Saint Philip Neri | 26 May 2026
This music is licensed under one license number: A-623356

𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗘𝗻𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝗽𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗼 𝗫𝗜𝗩: 𝗠𝗮𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮 𝗛𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗮𝘀
𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟱 – 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝘂𝗹𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗿 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗟𝗼𝘃𝗲

The confrontation between technological power and the destiny of humanity reaches its most dramatic point here. At its heart lies the increasingly close link between technology, power and violence, in a global context marked by the crisis of multilateralism and the gradual normalisation of war. Technological innovations, and in particular artificial intelligence, do not merely render defence systems more efficient, but profoundly affect the very nature of conflict, speeding up decision-making and result in the use of force being more impersonal and detached from moral responsibility.

The possibility of delegating life-and-death decisions to automated systems contributes to lowering the ethical threshold for the use of violence and to blurring the perception of the real consequences of the choices made. Within this framework, a veritable culture of power takes shape, in which the effectiveness of the means tends to supplant moral judgement, and the protection of civilians is subordinated to strategic logic. In the face of this reality, the text clearly states that ‘no algorithm can make war morally acceptable’, reaffirming that discernment regarding the use of force can never be reduced to a technical calculation.

This transformation is accompanied by public narratives that portray war as inevitable and even necessary, obscuring the historical memory of its consequences and numbing consciences. As an alternative to this logic, the vision of the civilisation of love is revived, understood as a concrete historical project founded on justice, fraternity and dialogue.

The civilisation of love takes the perspective of the victims as its criterion of judgement and recognises diplomacy and dialogue as the ordinary means for building peace. In this context, peace is not a sign of weakness, but a demanding and realistic choice, for ‘with peace nothing is lost, with war everything is lost’.

Read the full document by visiting: https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/encyclicals/documents/20260515-magnifica-humanitas.html