The declaration speaks of the shared faith and common ground that unites the Churches, saying "We recognise each other as brothers and sisters in Christ, and we wish to express our friendship and respect for one another as fellow Christians, citizens and partners in announcing the kingdom of God in our land.

"Since the World Missionary Conference (Edinburgh, 1910) and the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), much has been done ecumenically to repair what was broken and to restore mutual respect and friendship.

"A great deal has been achieved spiritually, practically and affectively, through joint prayer among our parishes, various joint commissions, and the growing knowledge and appreciation of each other as Christian friends and fellow pilgrims."

The declaration written by senior figures from both Churches describes the Churches' shared beliefs, ‘rooted in the Apostles, Christ's first disciples.' It acknowledges a common heritage as Christians in Scotland.

"We recall with gratitude to God the earliest missionaries, our forebears in the faith, who lived and preached the Christian faith to our land," it says. "We recall those from that time who led and formed the Church, nurturing a society inspired by Christian values, including St Ninian, St Columba and St Margaret."

The declaration also recognises the divisions of the past, apologises for the hurt and harm caused and seeks to make amends.

"We recognise the hurt and the harm that our forebears did to each other in times past, and we repent and ask forgiveness of one other," the signatories said.

"We also recognise that, even in more recent times, much could have been said between us more kindly, written more magnanimously, and done more charitably to promote pardon, healing and friendship among Christians in our land."

Most Reverend Leo Cushley, Archbishop and Metropolitan of St Andrews and Edinburgh, said: "Returning to live in Scotland after many years abroad, I was soon struck by how far the people of the Catholic Church and the Church of Scotland have come along the path of friendship in these last decades.

"We have now spent 40 years working diligently to respect and understand each other, what we have in common, what still divides us. In the meantime, through prayer together and social action, we have also become friends, and have grown to appreciate each other as fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. I believe this is something to acknowledge and to celebrate."

Some divisions between the Churches remain challenging and more work will be needed on reconciliation and healing. Still, the Churches say that what they hold in common is far greater than what divides them, and they commit to continue working towards greater unity.

Sources

Daily Record

Scottish Catholic Media Office

Catholic Culture

Last month the Herald Scotland published a piece showcasing what it called a "radical new school curriculum which will put LGBTI issues at the centre of education."

The curriculum is being developed and campaigned for by a pro-homosexual organization called Time for Inclusive Education (TIE).

According to the Herald the curriculum "would be the first in Europe to put LGBTI - lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex - children on an equal footing with heterosexual pupils."

TIE is aggressively campaigning to make the curriculum mandatory. Read more

Dr Andrew McLellan announced the remit and membership of a new commission to investigate how the Catholic Church handles abuse.

The former Moderator of the Church of Scotland believes his own faith can offer some spiritual and practical solutions on the issue.

The former chief inspector of prisons said: "I am not here representing the Church of Scotland, but my own church has learned a lot about helping parishes to 'own' and to love safeguarding."

"That is part of the culture change, which the Catholic Church needs to learn as well."

Dr McLellan said his church has "done a fairly significant theological piece of work about balancing the responsibility of a Christian organisation to forgive against the responsibility of a Christian organisation to protect".

"We have tried to think that through. It has helped us to form policies in our church."

"And that kind of thinking is very important for the Catholic Church to do as well."

The former moderator stressed he did not expect the Catholic Church to simply copy the Church of Scotland.

Dr McLellan said: "I am hoping that they will themselves choose to change the culture and theology of their church."

The McLellan Commission is not investigating individual cases of historic or current abuse.

But it wants to hear from those who have been affected by such issues, as it tries to make protection mechanisms more robust.

The commission is one of several safeguarding-related initiatives announced by Scotland's bishops.

Commission members include a senior police officer, a journalist and an MP.

Its report is due next year.

Sources:

• The Herald
• BBC
• Scottish Catholic Media Office
• Image: Democratic Underground

The church said it would reveal the number of incidents reported, their nature and the results of investigations into them.

It will also carry out an audit of all historic abuse allegations made between 1947 and 2005.

The Scotsman, meanwhile, reported that a dossier of documents containing allegations of more than 20 cases of abuse in the Catholic Church has been passed to police.

Confidential letters from Scottish bishops, dating back to 1995 and including every diocese in Scotland, will be reviewed by Police Scotland, the force ­confirmed.

In one, a bishop describes abuse against "two severely mentally-handicapped young female adults", according to reports in a Sunday newspaper. Another reportedly refers to a 15-year-old boy as "sexually mature".

Former advisor to the Motherwell diocese, Alan Draper, called for criminal investigations and an independent Scottish Government inquiry into sexual abuse in the Church.

The revelation came as it was revealed that a former moderator of the Church of Scotland's General Assembly has been asked to look into safeguarding procedures in the Catholic church. Andrew McLellan, who is also a former chief inspector of prisons for Scotland, will oversee the review.

Peter Kearney, a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, said the Church has co-operated with police and would continue to do so.

The Roman Catholic Church said the three initiatives were being launched "in a spirit of openness and transparency".

It follows a series of scandals in the church, with the most recent allegations concerning the Fort Augustus Abbey School.

The former leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, stepped down earlier this year after admitting sexual misconduct.

Sources

BBC
The Scotsman
The Herald
Image: BBC

In a Radio Scotland interview, Peter Kearney said: "If there's an area where the Church hasn't been seen — frankly because it's not present — it's in that area of compassionate, pastoral outreach to people who are struggling with same-sex attraction, or they're confused about it and would love the chance to talk to someone in a compassionate, pastoral context.

"The truth of it is that that level of support really isn't there.

"If you've got a drug or alcohol problem, or homelessness, then we seem to be able to step in and offer you support, help and options. But when it comes to human sexuality, it just isn't there at the moment. And that's unfortunate."

Meanwhile, an academic who compiled a report for the Catholic Church in Scotland in the mid-1990s, dealing with how to deal with sexual abuse, says it was not acted upon in a decisive or concerted way.

Alan Draper, an ethics lecturer at Dundee University, said he asked the eight Catholic bishops in Scotland how much they knew about sexual abuse. Their replies referred to 20 allegations of child abuse by priests.

Mr Draper said he wanted independent experts to investigate further, but the bishops disagreed.

He told the BBC: "I was very concerned about their unwillingness to actually expose individual priests who were leaving double lives.

"They were very reluctant to do that, and I felt that was totally inappropriate. It's not what your sexuality is, it's how you're managing your sexuality.

"Certainly there's strong evidence to say some of the priests were out of control sexually, whether they be homosexual or heterosexual.

"The file should be made open to an independent group, preferably chaired by a judge."

A statement from the Church said Mr Draper was involved "at an early stage in the development of policies and procedures but was replaced when others with greater competence were engaged".

Sources:

BBC

BBC

Image: Scottish Catholic Observer