Thousands of Catholics gathered in Carfin, south-east of Glasgow, on Sunday as Scottish bishops carried out the Consecration of Scotland to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
At the Carfin Grotto, the bishops prayed: “We consecrate Scotland to you: all that we have, all that we love, all that we are. To you we give our minds and hearts, our bodies and souls.
“We willingly place at your service our homes and our families, our parishes and schools: we desire that all that is in us and around us may belong to you, O Mary, and may share in the benefits of your motherly care.”
They also promised “to devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the service of your blessed name, in order to assure, through the sovereignty of your Immaculate Heart, the coming of the kingdom of your adorable Son Jesus Christ, in our own hearts and in our country of Scotland.”
Bishop John Keenan of Paisley told the Catholic Herald that the laity had begun the initiative for the consecration: they had sent “continual letters” asking that Scotland be consecrated, as other countries have been, in the centenary year of the Fatima apparitions.
The bishop said: “The Scottish bishops called upon a heavenly power to confront the powers of evil that threaten the Gospel in these turbulent times of aggressive secularism, confusing relativism and energy-sapping consumerism … From today onwards that battle, at least in Scotland, is now Our Lady’s as well as our own.”
Four parliamentarians lodged a motion calling on the Scottish Parliament to recognise the Consecration.
Boots accuses BPAS of encouraging ‘abuse’ of staff
Boots has sent a legal warning to the British Pregnancy and Advisory Service (BPAS), accusing it of encouraging members of the public to send a “torrent of personal abuse” to staff at the pharmacy chain.
Following criticism of the chemist about the high cost of the morning-after-pill, BPAS launched the “Just Say Non!” campaign in July. The group, which is Britain’s largest abortion provider, invited the public to email five named senior executives at Boots via an online form.
In a letter from law firm Schillings, Boots accused BPAS of “facilitation and tacit encouragement of personal abuse” in creating the form.
Four of the names have now been removed from the form.
A Boots spokesman said: “We asked them to remove personal email details from their campaign widget and not to encourage personal abuse of our people.
“We provided examples of where our employees have received abuse by email in response to BPAS’s campaign.
“BPAS have not yet agreed to do this and we will continue to ask that they agree to our simple request.”
Areas of Catholic Herald business are still recovering post-pandemic.
However, we are reaching out to the Catholic community and readership, that has been so loyal to the Catholic Herald. Please join us on our 135 year mission by supporting us.
We are raising £250,000 to safeguard the Herald as a world-leading voice in Catholic journalism and teaching.
We have been a bold and influential voice in the church since 1888, standing up for traditional Catholic culture and values. Please consider donating.