• edinburgh2
  • edinburgh1
  • glasgow1
  • scotus1
  • Slider1
  • paisley1
  • ayr1
  • ayr2
  • Slider1
  • oban1
  • fortrose1

The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Pope Francis RIP


17th December 1936 – 21st April 2025

May he rest in peace


Message of Bishop Keenan President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

It was with deep sadness that we woke to the news that Pope Francis has died and we share in the sense of loss of millions of people across the world. It is a consolation to us that he went to the LORD on Easter Monday and the great Easter Day as a sort of first fruits of the salvation which the Risen Christ shares with His Church.

We thank GOD for the Pope’s service which was always human and humble in its informal style and with a message of GOD’s universal love and unconditional mercy that brought hope to so many.

A man of the poor who lived simply, Pope Francis was a voice for the voiceless and all those who find themselves on the margins in our world. A man of peace, he called the Church to listen to everyone, to move forward together as a family, to find a conciliatory approach to those of different beliefs and lifestyles, for an end to conflicts across the world and for the care of Creation as GOD’s precious gift to humanity.

He gave of himself to the end, offering up his final illness with serenity, his last acts being to visit Rome’s prison on Holy Thursday and to wish the crowds gathered in Saint Peter’s a Happy Easter.

We pray he will be enjoying the full fruits of the Resurrection, resting from his work, his good deeds going with him.
May he rest in peace.
Bishop John Keenan

Read the Pastoral Letter on Assisted Suicide - National Day of Prayer - April 2025

Pastoral Letter on Assisted Suicide - National Day of Prayer - April 2025 Click to open

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

https://www.holyyear2025.org.uk

Click here to visit the Jubilee 2025 website

The Jubilee Prayer

Father in heaven,
may the faith you have given us
in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother,
and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.

May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel.
May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth,
when, with the powers of Evil vanquished,
your glory will shine eternally.

May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven. May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth. 

To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever.

Amen

News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by category: BCoS FacebookReturn
April 2025



Gospel of the Day (Matthew 26,14-25)

One of the Twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?" They paid him thirty pieces of silver, and from that time on he looked for an opportunity to hand him over.

On the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the disciples approached Jesus and said, "Where do you want us to prepare for you to eat the Passover?" He said, "Go into the city to a certain man and tell him, 'The teacher says, "My appointed time draws near; in your house I shall celebrate the Passover with my disciples."'" The disciples then did as Jesus had ordered, and prepared the Passover.

When it was evening, he reclined at table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, "Amen, I say to you, one of you will betray me." Deeply distressed at this, they began to say to him one after another, "Surely it is not I, Lord?" He said in reply, "He who has dipped his hand into the dish with me is the one who will betray me.

The Son of Man indeed goes, as it is written of him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed. It would be better for that man if he had never been born." Then Judas, his betrayer, said in reply, "Surely it is not I, Rabbi?" He answered, "You have said so."

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/word-of-the-day/2025/04/16.html
Read More



Amazing news from @standrewsedinburgh as 30 young people from ONE parish will convert to the Catholic faith this week. Learn the story here:
https://archedinburgh.org/seeking-truth-beauty-in-the-catholic-church/
Read More
A reflection from Bishop Frank Dougan (RC Diocese of Galloway) at last night's Stations of the Cross.

Thanks to everyone who has joined us throughout Lent to pray for unborn children, their mothers and all pro-life intentions.


Bishop Frank Dougan highlights how we must help others by sharing their burden so that no-one need carry their Cross aloneFrank Dougan is Bishop of the Dioce...
Read More



The Pope recognizes miracle attributed to a religious sister from India, the martyrdom of an Italian missionary; and the heroic virtues of God's ...
Read More
Bishop Frank Dougan, of RC Diocese of Galloway will give the reflection at the final Lenten Stations of the Cross tonight at 7:45pm. Register at bit.ly/stations25

Read More
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-appeal-peace-sudan-lebanon-israel-palestine-ukraine.html


On the eve of Holy Week, Pope Francis renews his call for dialogue in war-torn Sudan and asks the international community to provide humanitarian ...
Read More
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-04/pope-francis-greets-pilgrims-on-palm-sunday-in-square.html


Pope Francis wishes pilgrims a "Happy Palm Sunday and Happy Holy Week" in person during a surprise visit to Saint Peter's Square at the conclusion of ...
Read More



Here is a useful guide to Holy Week: a day-by-day journey through the most sacred days of the Christian year.
Read More
Let us run to accompany him as he hastens towards his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish. Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.
In his humility Christ entered the dark regions of our fallen world and he is glad that he became so humble for our sake, glad that he came and lived among us and shared in our nature in order to raise us up again to himself. And even though we are told that he has now ascended above the highest heavens – the proof, surely, of his power and godhead – his love for man will never rest until he has raised our earthbound nature from glory to glory, and made it one with his own in heaven.
So let us spread before his feet, not garments or soulless olive branches, which delight the eye for a few hours and then wither, but ourselves, clothed in his grace, or rather, clothed completely in him. We who have been baptized into Christ must ourselves be the garments that we spread before him. Now that the crimson stains of our sins have been washed away in the saving waters of baptism and we have become white as pure wool, let us present the conqueror of death, not with mere branches of palms but with the real rewards of his victory. Let our souls take the place of the welcoming branches as we join today in the children’s holy song: Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord. Blessed is the king of Israel.

Read More
Page 8 of 104 [8]