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The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

The Roman Catholic Bishops in Scotland work together to undertake nationwide initiatives through their Commissions and Agencies.

The members of the Bishops' Conference are the Bishops of the eight Scottish Dioceses. Where appropriate the Bishops Emeriti (retired) provide a much welcomed contribution to the work of the conference. The Bishops' Conference of Scotland is a permanently constituted assembly which meets regularly throughout the year to address relevant business matters.

EVENTS

Season Of Creation 2024


Christian communities all over the world will come together to celebrate the Season of Creation and to care for our common home next month.

The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland’s Care of Creation Office is hosting two events across the season, which runs from 1st September to 4th October which are open to all.

News from the Commissions and Agencies

October 2024



The past two Sundays I visited the Scots College celebrating Mass and enjoying their hospitality over lunch. It was good to spend time with our seminarians and staff. I thank the Community for their generosity in discerning the Lord’s call for them. Please remember them in your prayers.
Yesterday I travelled to the College with Sr Catherine Skelton, a Daughter of St Paul, who is now based in Rome. We both grew up in Joseph’s Parish, Greenock - in fact on the same street, Grieve Road. I asked Sr Catherine why she joined her particular Congregation. As a teenager on holiday in Rothesay she attended Mass in St Andrew’s and picked up a book about St Paul’s founder and from that became aware of her vocation! Tourists are constantly visiting parishes across our diocese. We have a privileged ministry and we should never underestimate the positive influence the Lord can have through us.
+Brian

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Melkite church in Lebanon hit by missile



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https://www.heraldscotland.com/politics/viewpoint/24649004.assisted-dying-bill-danger-vulnerable-people/
PROF ALLAN HOUSE
'Assisted dying' bill is a danger to the most vulnerable people

‘Assisted dying’ is a hot topic at the moment. Holyrood faces a debate on a Bill to change Scotland’s law from Liberal Democrat MSP Liam McArthur. At Westminster, Labour MP Kim Leadbeater is taking forward another proposal. As a psychiatrist with a special interest in the impact of physical illness on peoples’ personal lives and mental health, I’m particularly concerned about the debate.

Throughout my career, I’ve worked to help people struggling with the impact of serious illness who may feel overwhelmed, unsupported, or suicidal. My profession has had a united approach on this. We seek to alleviate suffering while protecting the vulnerable and suicidal. ‘Assisted dying’ – which in McArthur’s Bill means physician-assisted suicide – would cause a radical shift in practice.

In the debate about assisted suicide a common concern, even among those who support the idea in theory, is whether a particular piece of legislation can have sufficient safeguards to protect vulnerable people. I’ve studied McArthur's proposals closely and concluded that the safeguards outlined fail to offer any real reassurance to those worried about the risks.

To understand why, it helps to consider a case study. Picture a 45-year-old woman who’s lived with multiple sclerosis for ten years. She has had two relapses since her diagnosis but lives independently and uses a wheelchair for trips outside her house. Going to see her doctor one day, she says she feels like ending her life. How should the doctor respond?

Under our current approach, a doctor would seek to understand more. He or she would discuss the reasons for their patient’s thinking, her personal circumstances, and consider her history of physical or mental health problems. They would want to involve others such as a partner or next of kin. They may then advise a referral to a psychiatrist – especially if the doctor did not have expertise in responding to suicidal thoughts. Work towards a more hopeful outlook and rewarding life would follow.

Liam McArthur’s Bill proposes a fundamentally different approach to people with serious illnesses – the definition of ‘terminal illness’ in his Bill goes beyond conditions in which death is imminent. There would be no requirement to explore anything about a patient’s background, beyond confirming that they have a physical health condition. There’d be no requirement to consult a GP or a neurologist who might be managing a patient’s case or speak to next of kin or a close other. In fact, the first any of these people might know about a patient’s wish to die is after they’ve acted on it.

A doctor who is initially participating in assisting suicide would be required to involve a second doctor to make the same basic assessment. The two may consult a psychiatrist if they are uncertain about a patient’s mental capacity, but they are under no obligation to accept their opinion. Neither doctor would be required to make detailed notes of their contact with a patient as you would expect from any other medical involvement in a life-threatening situation.

The necessary expertise of the two doctors involved is unspecified in McArthur’s Bill and there is no requirement for specific training or supervision. The steps doctors can take to assist a patient’s suicide are similarly unclear. For example, the nature of the assistance they can provide in administration of a fatal drug dose. There is also no mention of the intervention a medical professional might make if death is attended by unacceptable complications or long delays. This is a huge ethical dilemma – does a doctor act to save or improve life, or do something to end it?

In relation to organisational oversight of an assisted suicide law, the details are similarly sparse. There is no mechanism for obtaining formal feedback from surviving family members or close others of the deceased, and there is no formal complaints procedure. A required annual report would do little more than provide basic details about the numbers of people whose suicides had been facilitated, with almost nothing said about their personal or social circumstances or health problems aside from the one listed as justifying the suicide.

There is an unresolvable dilemma at the core physician-assisted suicide legalisation: it requires doctors to prescribe fatal medication and oversee the resulting deaths while they are not responsible for the recipient’s healthcare more generally – with no apparent requirement to follow best medical practice, exercise a duty of care, and work to prevent suicide.

Liam McArthur’s Bill falls far short of containing the sort of safeguards we would expect in any other area of care for people with serious physical illness or those who are suicidal. In my view, it is a danger to vulnerable people and should not be allowed to pass into law.

Professor Allan House is an emeritus professor of liaison psychiatry and a supporter of Better Way

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‘Assisted dying’ is a hot topic at the moment. Holyrood faces a debate on a Bill to change Scotland’s law from Liberal Democrat MSP Liam…

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At the Angelus on Sunday, Pope Francis reflects on the Gospel account of the rich young man who asked Jesus what he must do to inherit eternal life.

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We participated in an Ecumenical Service yesterday evening in the grounds of St Peter’s at the shrine to the First Martyrs of Rome, on the 62nd anniversary of the beginning of the Second Vatican Council. The desire for Christian Unity was reinvigorated at the Council while the Synod of Bishops is one of its many fruits.
There are 16 Fraternal Delegates participating in the Synod from Orthodox and Protestant Churches. Although Fraternal Delegates cannot vote they fully contribute to our discussions, both in the Small Groups and Plenary Sessions, and their insights and friendships enrich us. The entire synodal journey has emphasised the importance of baptism which has ecumenical implications since all Christians share a common baptism.
+Brian

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The Catholic Church consists of 24 Churches of which by far the largest is the Latin Church. The other 23 are knowns as Oriental or Eastern Catholic Churches which are in full communion with the Pope, although they celebrate Mass and worship in different Rites and have distinct traditions from us in the Latin Church. The Eastern Catholic Churches are traditionally found in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Eastern Africa and India although many members now live in the West due to war, persecution and poverty. In fact, it is quite possible that recently some have moved into your own parish and will be attending Mass alongside you in our Latin Rite. However, when possible they will attend Mass in their own particular Rite if one of their priests is available and their numbers are sufficient. We should make every effort to welcome them into our parishes but also support them in preserving their bonds with their own particular Eastern Catholic Church.
The Oriental Churches are participating in the Synod and our unity in diversity witnesses to the catholicity of our Church. During the week we celebrated Mass in St Peter’s according to the Maronite Rite. The Maronite Church is mainly found in Lebanon and we prayed for the people of Lebanon who, of course, are suffering from war.
Last Monday Pope Francis called for a day of prayer and fasting for peace. On Monday the Synod members held a collection for the parishioners of the only Catholic parish in Gaza. Many families are sheltering at the Church complex in terrible conditions and Pope Francis phones them every day. The Collection raised just over 32,000 euros which has already been sent to the Holy Land.

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There is no slippery slope- once you permit killing anyone/anything is possible!



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https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saint-of-the-day/saint-john-xxiii/


A shy, retiring man, Cardinal Angelo Roncalli became our beloved Pope Saint John XXIII. Perhaps the greatest irony was that his fellow Cardinals elected him as a stop-gap pope to give them time to get the politics ironed out for a more permanent candidate. Little did they know what the Holy Spirit h...

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I explained yesterday that proposals from each of the 39 Small Groups are fed into 5 language groups, populated by the rapporteur from each Small Group, which in turn decides which topics seem the most important. One (poor) rapporteur is voted by each language groups to represent them in a further meeting, with the General Secretariat, to make the final decision about the topics, now formulated as questions, which best represent the thoughts of the 370 Synod members. Not an easy task! 7 or 8 questions are then emailed to each member to mull over.
Next day every member votes for what he or she thinks is the most important question to discuss. We are then told the order of preferences. During the Plenary Assembly the top 4 questions will be discussed, beginning with the question which received the most votes. This question will also have the most time allocated with the second question following but with a bit less time and so on. The final period is for free interventions on topics which did not make ‘the cut’. Members can speak for 3 minutes with silence after every 4 speakers.
After the third Plenary the Small Group again meets to discuss what they have learnt from listening to the entire assembly. We then pen our written report, maximum of 2 pages, which must contain concrete proposals, vote that it is an accurate record and then the rapporteur submits it to the General Secretariat. We then lie down in a quiet, dark room before beginning the whole process again for the next module! Meanwhile the theologians and writers begin reading our submissions to pull themes together in preparation for drafting the Final Report.
+Brian
Tomorrow, Friday, there will be an Ecumenical Service at 6pm which can be watched live on Vatican Media.

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