Just as Jesus preached while commuting to and from Emmaus, a Scottish bishop and priest have been preaching while commuting in Scotland. Last week Paisley’s Bishop John Keenan toured Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire on a double-decker bus, aiming to “bring faith issues to the high street.” The Mercy Bus – also known as “the church Read more
Scottish Archbishop Leo Cushley had offered to have refugees in his home. “This is the greatest migration of people into Europe since the Second World War,” he said, referring to the influx of refugees from Syria. “We are now facing something unprecedented since that time,” he said. “As a visible example of our willingness to Read more
A landmark report into safeguarding has condemned a culture of secrecy and cover-up in the Scottish Catholic Church. The 99-page McLellan Commission Report, published this week, described abuse as “the greatest challenge facing the whole Catholic Church in Scotland”. The commission was led by Dr Andrew McLellan, a former Moderator of the General Assembly of the Read more
Scottish MPs have overwhelmingly rejected a bill that sought to legalise assisted suicide. The bill, which would have allowed those with terminal illnesses to seek the aid of a doctor to help end their lives, was defeated 82-36 in a free vote in the Scottish Parliament. A Scottish parliamentary committee recently concluded that the bill Read more
A priest who alleged a gay mafia was behind bullying in the Scottish church has been found guilty of defamation. A Church tribunal found that Fr Matthew Despard of St John Ogilvie in Lanarkshire had injured the reputation of the Church as well as clergy and lay people. Already under suspension, he will be removed Read more
St Patrick is one of a handful of Christian saints, along with Mary, Valentine and Francis, that is celebrated in popular culture. His feast day is commemorated with supermarket meat sales, green rivers, green beer, and (my favourite) parades. But who was the real St Patrick? Most people know that the missionary Patrick (Patricius or Pádraig) Read more
A Scottish priest who says that his vocation was “destroyed” after he spoke out against sexual abuse is to claim unfair dismissal against the Catholic church at an employment tribunal. Father Patrick Lawson, who was removed from St Sophia’s parish church, in Galston, Ayrshire, in September by the Bishop of Galloway, John Cunningham, has been Read more
For all his ubiquity, the biblical Andrew is a shadowy figure. In one of a handful of scriptural references, he is the apostle who tells Jesus that five loaves and two fishes won’t feed 5,000 people; a miracle soon proves otherwise. Like other widely honoured saints, Andrew himself defies the laws of finitude by appealing Read more
The Archbishop Emeritus of Glasgow, Mario Conti, said Cardinal Keith O’Brien blocked an independent investigation into clerical sex abuse files held by Scottish dioceses. Cardinal O’Brien, who resigned as archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh in February after unidentified priests alleged he acted inappropriately toward them, objected to a church review of abuse allegations commissioned Read more
A retired social worker in Scotland who did a research on “problem priests” said a “secret archives” of the Church could contain allegations of sexual abuse by as many as 100 priests and other staff in cases stretching back 50 years. Alan Draper said an independent commission should be allowed access to the archives of Read more