Scotland Archives - Catholic Herald

Scotland

You can’t police belief but the State still tries to control our thoughts and values

April 26, 2024

Scotland’s new Hate Crime and Public Order Act is part of a trend in the Western world for the State to police our thoughts and values. Designed to eradicate prejudice against groups who have historically suffered discrimination, and motivated by the new focus on gender identity, Scotland’s new law, and those like it, are ostensibly

Scottish Parliament admits that policing ‘silent prayer’ in abortion ‘buffer zones’ difficult to manage

April 24, 2024

The Scottish Parliament has moved a step closer to sanctioning the “world’s most extreme buffer zone law” that could criminalise “private thoughts”, while acknowledging the difficulties in policing the law, especially when it comes to silent prayer. The proposed “safe access zone” that the law would establish includes not only the facility – usually a

Majority of Scots oppose abortion buffer zones, parliament consultation reveals

April 22, 2024

A Scottish Parliament consultation on MSP Gillian McKay’s buffer zone Bill has shown that 77 per cent of respondents oppose introducing so-called abortion buffer zones to Scotland. Polling from Savanta ComRes shows that less than a third of the population in Scotland support the introduction of nationwide buffer zones around abortion clinics. The consultation was undertaken by the

Bishop elect of Dunkeld in Scotland dies shortly before ordination service; last week he went to Lourdes to pray for his new diocese

April 11, 2024

The bishop-elect of Dunkeld in Scotland has died two weeks before his ordination service that was due to occur on 27 April. Only last week, Fr Martin had travelled to Lourdes on pilgrimage to pray for his new diocese. In a statement released 10 April, the diocesan administrator for Dunkeld, Canon Kevin Golden, announced the sad news:

The Glaswegian nuns who called the feminists’ bluff on abortion

February 12, 2024

One hundred and sixty. It’s a number etched on Sister Roseann Reddy’s heart. That is the number of babies saved from abortion since the Sisters of the Gospel of Life were formed on 1 January 2000. The Sisters of the Gospel of Life are based on the south side of Glasgow in Scotland. It is

Scottish Catholics fear proposed ‘conversion therapy’ ban will lead to ‘State-approved’ suppression of religious freedoms

January 10, 2024

LEICESTER, United Kingdom – Scotland’s Catholic Church is urging the Scottish government not to ban “conversion practices” directed at LGBTQ+ individuals, saying such a measure could create “a chilling effect and may criminalize advice or opinion given in good faith”. The Scottish government has launched a consultation on banning what it refers to as “conversion

Scottish Catholic group lambasts ‘world’s most extreme’ abortion ‘buffer zone’ legislation

December 14, 2023

A new bill in the Scottish parliament to introduce “safe access zones” around abortion centres has Scottish Catholics deeply concerned, and maintains an ongoing trend in the UK for introducing legislation supporting so-called buffer zones that suppress any form of concern for pregnant women and the unborn. Scottish Catholics are concerned the prohibitions of the

All reference to Catholic schools deleted from new Scottish sex ed guidelines as Church ‘wilfully ignored’ by government

November 13, 2023

The Scottish Government released new draft guidelines on the delivery of Relationships, Sexual Health and Parenthood education to be applied in Scottish schools. The new guidance, which is issued under section 56 of the Standards in Scotland’s Schools Act 2000, is designed to replace earlier guidance issued in 2014. A public consultation on the draft