The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

✝️ Who are the Christians of the Holy Land?
⛪What role does the Church play in advocating for them?
🕊️How can we follow the call of Jesus to be peacemakers?

Join us to hear from Anne-Marie Clements, our Catholic Social Teaching Engagement Officer, as she shares reflections from her recent visit to Jerusalem as a delegate of the Holy Land Coordination 2025. The talks will feature stories she heard directly from the Christian communities of Jerusalem and the West Bank and opportunities for discussion and questions.

🗓️DATES
🔹THIS Saturday 5th April, 3pm, St Peter in Chains, Ardrossan - RC Diocese of Galloway
🔹 Tues 8th April, 7.30pm, Diocesan Centre, Motherwell - Motherwell Diocese

📰News update from The Poverty Alliance - "Chancellor has no justification for social security cuts."

Justice & Peace Scotland are glad to be members of The Poverty Alliance, advocating alongside many other civil society and faith organisations for the eradication of poverty from society.


"People know that there is no justification for these cuts. It does not have to be like this. The Chancellor could scrap her self-imposed fiscal rules or use our taxation system to raise the revenue needed for the better future we all want to see."
Our Peter Kelly on the #SpringStatement.
https://www.povertyalliance.org/news-chancellor-has-no-justification-for-social-security-cuts/

🇻🇦Pope St John Paul II's papal encyclical Evangelium vitae (The Gospel of Life) was issued on this day in 1995. It reaffirms the Church's teaching on the value and inviolability of every human life and appeals to all people to respect, protect, love, and serve human life in all situations.

3️⃣0️⃣Three decades on in a world where threats to life are prevalent at all stages of the human journey, the prophetic message of Evangelium vitae is more important than ever: human life, as a gift of God, is sacred. For this reason, direct attacks on human dignity, such as abortion, euthanasia, warfare, and the death penalty are always unacceptable.

💟Evangelium vitae emphasises the innate dignity of every human life created in the image and likeness of God and thus maintains that societies and individuals, especially Christians, should do everything in their power to protect it at every moment and in every context.

📢ANNOUCEMENT: Journals From Jerusalem in RC Diocese of Galloway and Motherwell Diocese.

We are delighted to announce that Anne-Marie Clements, our Catholic Social Teaching Engagement Officer, will be speaking at two in-person events this Lent, sharing stories and reflections from her recent visit to Jerusalem while accompanying Archbishop Nolan for the Holy Land Coordination 2025.

The talks will feature stories heard first hand from the Christian communities of Jerusalem and the West Bank along with reflections on the urgent need for peace and an opportunity for discussion and Q&A. All the details are in the flyer below. 👇

🇻🇦LETTER FROM POPE FRANCIS URGES US TO USE OUR WORDS TO ACHIEVE PEACE AND DISARMAMENT

🖋️The Holy Father has written to the editor-in-chief of an Italian daily newspaper asking the publication and all those in communications to amplify his appeal for peace and disarmament.

📝Writing from Gemelli Hospital, Pope Francis stresses the importance of using words to either build peace or bring disharmony. An excerpt from his letter reflecting on the importance of words states:

💬"They are never just words: they are facts that shape human environments. They can connect or divide, serve the truth or use it for other ends. We must disarm words, to disarm minds and disarm the Earth. There is a great need for reflection, calmness, and an awareness of complexity.

While war only devastates communities and the environment, without offering solutions to conflicts, diplomacy and international organisations are in need of new vitality and credibility. Religions, moreover, can draw from the spirituality of peoples to rekindle the desire for fraternity and justice, the hope for peace.

All this requires commitment, work, silence, and words."

🕊️This picture taken during a Christian Peace Witness Vigil at the site of the UK's nuclear weapons last summer shows how Justice & Peace Scotland and our fellow partners working for peace seek to use our words to disarm through scripture readings, prayer and song.

There are two things we can learn from the Pope's latest message:

1️⃣To use our words in a way that is in harmony with Gospel values. Use them to speak truths, to speak out against injustice, and to speak up for peace. If we are using our words to disagree or question, we should do so in a way that is grounded in mutual respect and recognises the dignity of those with whom we communicate.
2️⃣Disarmament is the key that unlocks true peace for all and we must actively strive for its realisation by advocating for alternative solutions to conflict, such as dialogue and diplomacy, that replace warfare and death with fraternity and justice.

☘️O God, who chose the Bishop Saint Patrick to preach your glory to the peoples of Ireland,
grant through his merits and intercession,
that those who glory in the name of Christian
may never cease to proclaim your wondrous deeds to all. ✝️