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
A crisis of sorts is developing in the appointment of Catholic bishops worldwide as a backlog of 187 sees (excluding China) remain vacant, writes Edward Pentin in the National Catholic Register. Half of Scotland’s ordinaries — four out of eight — have yet to be appointed. The Philippines has nine sees without a bishop, and Read more
The Vatican plans an apostolic visitation of the Church in Scotland, to probe charges of widespread corruption, according to The Scotsman newspaper. Though no word has come from the Vatican, the newspaper said a priest who accused the resigned Cardinal Keith O’Brien of homosexual conduct was told there would be an investigation in a meeting Read more
Scotland is a hostile place for Catholics, according to the spokesman for the Catholic Church there, Peter Kearney. “Priests have bricks thrown through their bedroom windows,” he said. “The number of crimes motivated by anti-Catholic intolerance has gone up every year since the 2003 Criminal Justice Act was created. Things are not getting better.” Continue Read more
The Catholic Church in Scotland has come in for further criticism of its child protection procedures, with a former consultant revealing that the Church has been unable to produce the annual audits of abuse claims that it promised in 1996. The former child protection consultant, Alan Draper, who worked for the Motherwell diocese for seven Read more
The Catholic Church has called for a public acknowledgement of the extent of anti-Catholicism in Scotland following evidence that Catholics are victims of more religious hate crime than any other group. New statistics released by the Scottish government revealed an increase of 26 per cent in religious hate crimes in 2011-2012. Anti-Catholic attacks made up Read more
The Catholic Church in Scotland is outraged after its leader, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, was named Bigot of the Year by Britain’s largest gay advocacy. Stonewall, a charity which claims 10,000 members, made the award at an annual ceremony in London in reaction to the cardinal’s stance against the Scottish government’s intention to legalise same-sex marriage. Read more
Parents in Scotland will be powerless to prevent their children from being taught about gay marriage and teachers could be forced out of their jobs if they fail to teach the normality of gay marriage. These are just some of the claims made by leading human rights lawyer, Aidan O’Neill QC, in a legal opinion Read more
A traditionalist religious order with a community in Christchurch has been formally recognised as a diocesan institute within the Catholic Church. The Congregation of the Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer, based on a tiny windswept island in the Orkney Isles, Scotland, was formerly part of the breakaway Society of St Pius X. In a Read more
A Catholic bishop has sparked outrage among equality campaigners by suggesting that the Scottish Government could extend legislation on same-sex marriage to include bigamy and even incest, if it truly believed in equality. Bishop Hugh Gilbert of Aberdeen questioned why equality would not extend to “nieces who genuinely, truly love their uncles” and why men Read more