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The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Pope Francis RIP


17th December 1936 – 21st April 2025

May he rest in peace


Message of Bishop Keenan President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

It was with deep sadness that we woke to the news that Pope Francis has died and we share in the sense of loss of millions of people across the world. It is a consolation to us that he went to the LORD on Easter Monday and the great Easter Day as a sort of first fruits of the salvation which the Risen Christ shares with His Church.

We thank GOD for the Pope’s service which was always human and humble in its informal style and with a message of GOD’s universal love and unconditional mercy that brought hope to so many.

A man of the poor who lived simply, Pope Francis was a voice for the voiceless and all those who find themselves on the margins in our world. A man of peace, he called the Church to listen to everyone, to move forward together as a family, to find a conciliatory approach to those of different beliefs and lifestyles, for an end to conflicts across the world and for the care of Creation as GOD’s precious gift to humanity.

He gave of himself to the end, offering up his final illness with serenity, his last acts being to visit Rome’s prison on Holy Thursday and to wish the crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s a Happy Easter.

We pray he will be enjoying the full fruits of the Resurrection, resting from his work, his good deeds going with him.
May he rest in peace.
Bishop John Keenan

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

https://www.holyyear2025.org.uk

Click here to visit the Jubilee 2025 website

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. 

To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.

Amen

News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by tag: Bishops' Conference of ScotlandReturn
August 2024



Join us at the National Marian Shrine of Scotland on Sunday 1st September at 3pm for the National Pilgrimage - in preparation of the Holy Year, 2025.
His Excellency, The Most Reverend Miguel Maury Buendía, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, will be the principal celebrant of this Mass and The Right Reverend Francis Dougan, Bishop of Galloway, will be preaching the Homily. There will be a Rosary Procession in honour of our Blessed Mother after Mass.

Bishops' Conference of Scotland Motherwell Diocese Archdiocese of Glasgow Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh Diocese of Argyll & the Isles Galloway Diocese RC Diocese of Aberdeen Diocese of Paisley Being Catholic EWTN GB

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Thousands have prayed at the shrine in St Patrick's Church, Edinburgh, where the remains of Venerable Margaret Sinclair are interred. Why not ask big of Margaret and be the miracle that helps declare her Blessed at last!

📅 The Venerable Margaret Sinclair Pilgrimage, St Patrick's, Sunday 22 September.

SCHEDULE
▪ 1230: Goods and Candles for sale, teas/coffee.
▪ 1330: Holy Hour (Exposition, Rosary, Benediction, Confessions).
▪ 1445: Individual Blessings at Shrine.
▪ 1530: Reflection and Novena, Presentation from Sinclair Academy.
▪ 1630: Holy Mass with Archbishop Cushley.

Find out more about this remarkable woman: https://stpatricksedinburgh.com/margaret-sinclair/

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https://www.sciaf.org.uk
Donate to our urgent appeal and help put a meal on the table for our sisters and brothers in Zambia and across Africa.


SCIAF - Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund

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https://www.sciaf.org.uk/about-us/news/686-a-reflection-on-sciaf-our-church-and-togetherness


A lovely reflection written about faith and togetherness by SCIAF Community Engagement Officer, Michael Hamilton.

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https://www.sciaf.org.uk/about-us/news/685-caritas-at-the-heart-of-gaza


As the crisis deepens in Gaza, the Caritas family has intensified its efforts to address the needs of people in desperate need, including the sick and injured, children and the elderly.

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https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2024-08/church-leaders-welcome-india-supreme-court-euthanasia-ban.html


Catholic authorities in India have expressed their approval following the Supreme Court’s decision to maintain the prohibition on passive euthanasia ...

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https://scottishcatholicguardian.co.uk/2024/08/23/chicago-pregnancy-center-vandalized-as-democratic-national-convention-closes/


A Catholic pregnancy center called “Aid for Women” in north Chicago’s Edgewater neighborhood was vandalized with red paint and the words “fake clinic” and “the dead babies are in Gaza” at 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 23, just hours after the closing of the Democratic National Convention. Mar...

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https://www.romereports.com/en/2024/08/20/scottish-bishops-slam-state-for-assisted-suicide-bill-it-provides-cheap-death/


Proposed in March, a bill in the Scottish parliament would allow terminally ill patients to be assisted by health professionals to end their life.

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A Reflection
on Evil & Silence
Pax Scotia Aug-Sept 2024 Issue 49
Pax Scotia
Issue 49
Sixteen years ago I visited Kenya in the immediate aftermath
of post-election ethnic violence. I had spent several
summers in the same town and knew many people well. It
was painful to see how viciously neighbours – including
parishioners - had turned against each other. I visited
friends who had fled for their lives. I had previously
received hospitality in their homes but now they were
forced to shelter in tents in a refugee camp.
This was long before the advent of social media, but I
learnt that several radio stations served the various tribes
in their own languages. Culturally this was a good thing, yet
it had been misused. A prolonged and determined
campaign of bigotry had flourished on these radio stations
which allowed lies, insults and exaggerations to partly
prepare the way for the violence. Loyalty to tribal vows
silenced good people who neither challenged this sinister
direction of travel nor warned their neighbours and friends.
In the same year I visited Bavaria and went to Dachau, the
first Concentration Camp built by the Nazis. I learnt that
initially Dachau was intended to be a place where through
cruelty, intimidation and sometimes death those who
thought differently or spoke out against the Nazis were ‘reeducated’. Early protestors were quickly incarcerated in
Dachau and the majority remained silent. However, sin is a
slippery slope and Dachau inevitably became a place of
mass murder.
Six months later I visited Auschwitz. There it was
impossible to ignore the depths that human depravity can
reach. I was struck that the undeniable evil which
permeated Dachau had further deteriorated to even greater
depths of evil - the extermination of 6 million Jews and so
many others. I recognised the truth revealed by the Book of
Genesis, not least in Adam and Eve, that sin/evil, when not
effectively challenged, quickly grows and spreads.
A combined culture of evil and silence can only go in one
direction.
Closer to home we have recently witnessed the unscrupulous
manipulation of a horrific crime to orchestrate hatred and
violence against Muslims, asylum seekers, migrants and the
police. This is what happens when blatant lies and the
manipulation of half-truths run amok. It has happened too
often before, and it is happening right now. Nor must we
ignore that while this particular form of bigotry, lies and
violence can be found in the Far Right, it can actually exist
anywhere.
As Christians, and indeed as human beings, we must be
vigilant regarding our own ideas and choice of language. We
must also be courageous in challenging any kind of bigotry
whenever and wherever we encounter it: within myself, or
among family, friends or at work. Evil breeds evil and silence
permits this. What is sinful/evil language today (verbal or
written) too easily becomes violent tomorrow. The way of
Christ is different and that is the path we must choose.
I pen these words on the Feast of St Maximillian Kolbe. I
stood in the cell where he was murdered, disturbed at the
new violence destroying Kenya at that very moment, half a
world away. I marvelled at how Maximillan’s faith drove him
to confront evil and triumph over it in love. When I visited
Kenya two months later, I promised myself that I would
always challenge bigotry, no matter its form. Although I can
point to occasions when I have kept that promise
unfortunately there are many times I have failed. Today, as
this latest bigotry spreads I again find myself asking if I am
willing allow Christ to transform me. Time will tell.
Bishop Brian McGee
Argyll and the Isles
14th August 2024



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https://stpaulcenter.com/audio/sunday-bible-reflections/a-choice-to-make-scott-hahn-reflects-on-the-twenty-first-sunday-in-ordinary-time/


This Sunday’s Mass readings conclude a four-week meditation on the Eucharist.The Twelve Apostles in today’s Gospel are asked to make a choice—either to believe and accept the New Covenant He offers in His Body and Blood or return to their former ways of life.

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