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.

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

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland announces Luisa Campbell as the next General Secretary

The Bishops of Scotland welcome Luisa Campbell to the office of General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland from February 2026, when Fr. Gerry Maguiness completes his second term of office.

In parallel with her working career, Luisa has been actively involved in the life of the Church in Scotland at both parish and diocesan level in the areas of youth work, parish administration, liturgy, evangelisation, RCIA and finance.

Luisa retired early from work in 2020 to pursue her passion for voluntary work in the Catholic Church.

After gaining Master’s degrees in both Engineering and Business Administration, she worked for almost forty years in industry, ultimately as chief executive of a Scottish business which she led for over two decades. Her roles involved leadership, governance, strategy, commercial finance, mergers and acquisitions and organisational development.

During that time, she also acted as a trustee of several charities, served as a non-executive director and as trustee of a large pension scheme.

Luisa grew up in the diocese of Galloway and has lived in both the archdiocese of Glasgow and the diocese of Aberdeen. Her work has taken her to every diocese in Scotland.

She will be the first member of the lay faithful and first woman to take on the role of General Secretary.

Responding to her invitation from the bishops, Luisa said, ‘I look forward to serving the Bishops of Scotland in my new role as General Secretary, bringing together my experience in the Church and in the world of business.’

Bishop Keenan, President of the Bishops’ Conference said, ‘The bishops are delighted that Luisa has accepted this post and will continue the good work carried on by Fr. Gerry Maguiness over the past years. Luisa brings a wealth of experience both as a committed laywoman in the Church who has served our parishes and dioceses loyally over the years and who also has vast experience of life in the world and where she has made a fruitful contribution. We look forward to working with her in the service of the Church in Scotland in the years ahead’.

The Bishops of Scotland would like to take the opportunity of commending and thanking Fr. Gerry Maguiness for his wise, effective and tireless stewardship of the General Secretariat over the past six years. We wish him similar blessings as he takes up the office of parish priest of St. Bride’s in Cambuslang.

Bishop John Keenan
President, Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

News from the Commissions and Agencies

October 2025

26Oct

Church Moderator accompanies the King to meet Pope

26 Oct, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://www.churchofscotland.org.uk/news-and-events/news/articles/church-moderator-accompanies-the-king-to-meet-pope

The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland accompanied Their Majesties King Charles III and Queen Camilla on a trip to the Vatican to...

26Oct

Reflection on today’s Gospel

26 Oct, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Reflection on today’s Gospel
Luke is the evangelist of prayer, offering frequent hints about it. In his Gospel Jesus is explicitly mentioned as being in prayer more often than in any other, at the Baptism, the Transfiguration, when called upon to teach his disciples the Lord’s Prayer (3.21; 6.12; 11.1). The Agony in the Garden is shaped to show the need for prayer in time of testing (22.40). In the Infancy Narratives his characters burst into prayerful praise on every occasion, and from these we derive the three great canticles of the Church, the Magnificat, the Benedictus and the Nunc dimittis. His parables insist on the need for perseverance in prayer, especially the parables of the Friend at Midnight (11.5-8) and the Unjust Judge (18.1-5). Their motives may not be perfect: the Friend at Midnight eventually caves in because he does not want to be shamed for inhospitable behaviour when the whole village hears the hammering on the door. And the appellant to the Unjust Judge seems to be on the edge of violence, threatening to hit the Judge in the face! But the message is to persevere!
Today, in this parable of the Pharisee and the Tax-Collector, Luke combines deadly earnestness with humour in a typically Lukan fashion. The pompous and self-contradictory bragging of innocence by the Pharisee is duly repellent, while the humble self-accusation of the tax-collector is something to which we can all aspire.

HW
from Universalis today

26Oct

Photos from Bishops' Conference of Scotland's post

26 Oct, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

National pilgrimage for Holy Year to Markinch St Andrews and Dunfermline 25th Oct 25

25Oct

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

25 Oct, 2025 | Justice & Peace Scotland | Justice & Peace Scotland Facebook |

📜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.

24Oct

Pope approves beatification for priests martyred under Nazism and Communism - Vatican News

24 Oct, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Pope Leo XIV approves the upcoming beatification of nine Polish priests martyred at Dachau and Auschwitz; and two diocesan priests killed out of ...

24Oct

Jubilee of Synodal Teams

24 Oct, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

24Oct

Photos from Pontifical Scots College, Rome's post

24 Oct, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

24Oct

Justice & Peace Scotland's cover photo

24 Oct, 2025 | Justice & Peace Scotland | Justice & Peace Scotland Facebook |

24Oct

Photos from Justice & Peace Scotland's post

24 Oct, 2025 | Justice & Peace Scotland | Justice & Peace Scotland Facebook |

📸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.

24Oct

Statement on Newman to Be Declared Patron of Catholic Education and Doctor of the Church - Cardinal Newman Society

24 Oct, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://cardinalnewmansociety.org/statement-on-newman-to-be-declared-patron-of-catholic-education-and-doctor-of-the-church/

The Cardinal Newman Society joyfully celebrates the Vatican’s announcement that our holy patron, St. John Henry Cardinal Newman, will be named the universal Church’s Patron of Catholic Education on October 28 and Doctor of the Church on All Saints Day (November 1). Praise be to God! Deo gratias!...