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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.

Members of The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

30th July 2026


30 July 2026

Bishop Welcomes Prime Minister’s Call to Prioritise Care Reforms Before Westminster Assisted Suicide Vote

Bishop John Keenan, the Bishop with responsibility for Marriage, Family and Life for the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, has welcomed Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s call for the serious gaps in palliative and social care to be addressed before the Westminster Parliament considers assisted suicide legislation.

Bishop Keenan said:

“The Prime Minister’s intervention is both timely and welcome. We have a duty to ensure that every person approaching the end of life has access to the compassionate palliative and social care they deserve. No one should ever feel driven towards assisted suicide because they lack the care, support or dignity they need.

“We were grateful that the Scottish Parliament resolutely rejected assisted suicide only recently. We hope this latest intervention will encourage Members of the Westminster Parliament to reflect carefully before taking a step that would fundamentally change the way our society cares for the sick and vulnerable.

“As our Catholic Parliamentary Officer, Anthony Horan, has rightly said: ‘The last thing the country needs is another divisive debate about assisted suicide. We need to make progress in improving palliative and social care, not offering vulnerable people state support to end their lives.’ I share that conviction wholeheartedly.

“This is an opportunity to rethink the whole approach to assisted suicide. The compassionate response to suffering is never to help people end their lives, but to ensure they receive the high-quality care, love and accompaniment they need. Let us pray for all who are seriously ill, for their families and carers, and for those in public office, that they may always uphold the dignity of every human life and work to build a society that truly cares for its most vulnerable members.”

Bishop John Keenan

President of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

Contact:

Media Office

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
64 Aitken Street, ML6 6LT
Tel: 01236 764061
Email: [email protected]

News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by category: BCoS FacebookReturn
June 2025
STATEMENT FROM BISHOP KEENAN President of BCOS on the barbaric vote to decriminalise abortion (NB abortion until birth already takes place legally in some cases)

"Unfortunately, MPs have voted in support of Tonia Antoniazzi’s amendment which begins the reality of the decriminalisation of ‘abortion up to birth’. Notably, the vote took place after less than two hours of debate, and without public consultation.

"The amendment will change the law so that it is no longer illegal for women to perform their own abortions for any reason—including sex-selective purposes—at any point up to and during birth. It is likely to lead to an increase in the number of women performing dangerous late-term abortions at home.

"At the same time, another even more extreme amendment did not go to a vote and will not be able to become law, which would have allowed abortion on demand, for any reason, up to birth in abortion centres and hospitals, removing the time limit, the two-doctor rule and a series of other safeguards provided by the Abortion Act, and which would have made the UK the world's most extreme in terms of abortion law.

"I urge everyone to do all you can to help challenge this amendment in the House of Lords, and I ask you never to give up hoping that the dignity of all human life—from conception until natural death—will be upheld and defended on our shores, and to commit to the support of those who find themselves in difficulty in pregnancy so they can find all the help they need in choosing to keep their babies.

"I am so very grateful to all who engaged with their MPs on this matter to ask them to vote against this amendment, and to all who struggle every day to defend the rights of the unborn in our society and across the world. May God reward your efforts."
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Ten years today, we first read Laudato si', Pope Francis' encyclical on care for our common home. Here is the first reaction to it that we published, by Fr Damian Howard SJ. https://www.thinkingfaith.org/articles/laudato-si%E2%80%99-seismic-event-dialogue-between-catholic-church-and-ecology
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St Mary's University, Twickenham, invites people from across Scotland to study Applied Catholic Theology (MA) from its campus at The Gillis Centre in Edinburgh. The two year, part-time course is a partnership with the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh.

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https://youtu.be/OXn-wf5ylgo?si=0BFU9w3BFgnwu9Op


Mother Teresa courageously speaks—in front of pro-abortion Clinton and Gore—about the unborn and about abortion: "But I feel that the greatest destroyer of p...
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“St Mother Teresa said
I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion, because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even His life to love us. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts.

“By abortion, the mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems. And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they want. This is why the greatest destroyer of love and peace is abortion.”

She concluded her speech with words of hope, and a reminder that we are called to use our freedom for higher purposes than murder:

“If we remember that God loves us, and that we can love others as He loves us, then America can become a sign of peace for the world. From here, a sign of care for the weakest of the weak -- the unborn child -- must go out to the world. If you become a burning light of justice and peace in the world, then really you will be true to what the founders of this country stood for. God bless you!”
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https://www.
A tragic day for humanity
A society that kills its children up to the seconds before a child is born is barbaric. In a world where innocent people are killed every day, life has become cheap and yet politicians in the UK are now contributing to this mentality. Assisted suicide is next. God help us all 🙏


Church leaders and pro-life groups have reacted with grave concern to a vote in the House of Commons passing an amendment on the decr...
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One of the most striking things about working in the pro-life movement is how often we’re told our views are “extreme” or “out of touch.” Yet, when you
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In a telegram for the Day of Life observed by the Church in England and Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, Pope Leo calls on Catholics to continue to bear ...
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