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

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

Bishops’ Conference of Scotland announces Luisa Campbell as the next General Secretary

The Bishops of Scotland welcome Luisa Campbell to the office of General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland from February 2026, when Fr. Gerry Maguiness completes his second term of office.

In parallel with her working career, Luisa has been actively involved in the life of the Church in Scotland at both parish and diocesan level in the areas of youth work, parish administration, liturgy, evangelisation, RCIA and finance.

Luisa retired early from work in 2020 to pursue her passion for voluntary work in the Catholic Church.

After gaining Master’s degrees in both Engineering and Business Administration, she worked for almost forty years in industry, ultimately as chief executive of a Scottish business which she led for over two decades. Her roles involved leadership, governance, strategy, commercial finance, mergers and acquisitions and organisational development.

During that time, she also acted as a trustee of several charities, served as a non-executive director and as trustee of a large pension scheme.

Luisa grew up in the diocese of Galloway and has lived in both the archdiocese of Glasgow and the diocese of Aberdeen. Her work has taken her to every diocese in Scotland.

She will be the first member of the lay faithful and first woman to take on the role of General Secretary.

Responding to her invitation from the bishops, Luisa said, ‘I look forward to serving the Bishops of Scotland in my new role as General Secretary, bringing together my experience in the Church and in the world of business.’

Bishop Keenan, President of the Bishops’ Conference said, ‘The bishops are delighted that Luisa has accepted this post and will continue the good work carried on by Fr. Gerry Maguiness over the past years. Luisa brings a wealth of experience both as a committed laywoman in the Church who has served our parishes and dioceses loyally over the years and who also has vast experience of life in the world and where she has made a fruitful contribution. We look forward to working with her in the service of the Church in Scotland in the years ahead’.

The Bishops of Scotland would like to take the opportunity of commending and thanking Fr. Gerry Maguiness for his wise, effective and tireless stewardship of the General Secretariat over the past six years. We wish him similar blessings as he takes up the office of parish priest of St. Bride’s in Cambuslang.

Bishop John Keenan
President, Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by tag: bishops' conference of scotlandReturn

October 2024

11Oct

Saint John XXIII | Franciscan Media

11 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

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...

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

10Oct

I explained yesterday that proposals from each of the 39 Small Groups are fed into 5 language groups, populated by the rapporteu...

10 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

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.

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

10Oct

It was my birthday yesterday which I had hoped to keep quiet but the Synod Secretariat think that it is ‘nice’ to publicly annou...

10 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

It was my birthday yesterday which I had hoped to keep quiet but the Synod Secretariat think that it is ‘nice’ to publicly announce these things. My Small Group then hurriedly printed an impromptu Birthday Card (with all our faces on it) and got/stole a wee cake🥳. Perhaps this was to make up for having voted me as the rapporteur the day previously (they obviously didn’t get the memo about my near disaster as Secretary in my previous Group).
Last year the Small Groups were given different aspects of the same topic to discuss and so the feedback to the Plenary was varied. However, this year we are all reflecting on the same chapter from the Working Document. To avoid unnecessary repetition during the Plenary Session there are only 5 feedbacks, representing all the 39 Small Groups. How is this achieved?
Yesterday I explained that the Small Groups, after 4 rounds of sharing, agree on particular topics they would like the Plenary Assembly to discuss in greater detail. Each Small Group elects a rapporteur who will represent it and present their preferred topics when the 39 rapporteurs meet over 5 language groups: 2 English and 1 each of Italian, French and Spanish/Portuguese. For 2 hours the rapporteurs prayerfully share their individual groups conclusions, then agree together which are the most important topics before formulating questions which will be proposed for the Plenary Session. Tomorrow I’ll explain the next steps in a very thorough discernment process.
+Brian

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

10Oct

Comboni

10 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://www.comboni.org/en/contenuti/113647

Saint Daniel still reminds us today of our duty to announce and share Jesu Christ our hope whose heart forever beats for suffering humanity; he urges us to witness to Him in our daily life in a spirit of ministeriality in fraternity; he urges us to live in communion and in the spirit of synodality t...

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

09Oct

Catholic Parliamentary Office

09 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://rcpolitics.org/bishop-meets-first-minister/ Last Tuesday Bishop Gilbert met with the First Minister.

‘We all have a duty to move always towards the truth, to respect it and bear responsible witness to it’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2467)

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

09Oct

New cardinals say Europe is becoming the Church’s new ‘peripheries’

09 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://www.aciafrica.org/news/12427/new-cardinals-say-europe-is-becoming-the-catholic-churchs-new-peripheries

“When the Holy Father is talking about peripheries, I think the peripheries are moving. ... Maybe the peripheries are moving towards Europe,” Archbishop Kikuchi said.

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

09Oct

UN: Famine and disease spreading in Sudan - Vatican News

09 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2024-10/devastating-airstrike-in-sudan-claims-lives-of-13-children.html

Escalating violence in Sudan is claiming numerous lives, with children particularly at deadly risk from ongoing airstrikes, famine, and severe hunger. ...

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

09Oct

Bernini’s baldacchino to be unveiled on October 27 - Vatican News

09 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/vatican-city/news/2024-10/baldachin-st-peters-pope-francis-basilica-unveiling.html

After 8 months under scaffolding, Pope Francis will inaugurate the newly refurbished baldacchino with a Mass—also signaling the end of the Synod.

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

09Oct

Pope at Audience: The Holy Spirit expands and unites the Church - Vatican News

09 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2024-10/pope-at-audience-holy-spirit-expands-and-unites-the-church.html

Pope Francis highlights the Holy Spirit's role in expanding the Church's mission to all peoples while fostering unity from within.

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)

08Oct

This morning we joined our new Small Groups for the Second Module

08 Oct, 2024 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

This morning we joined our new Small Groups for the Second Module. It’s almost like the first day at a new school, looking around to see who is there! Anyway this time I’m the only member living in the West so that should make for rich sharing and learning.
Last week’s module reflected on the foundations of Synodality including spirituality and theology. The next three modules should identify practical steps to ensure the implementation of synodal practices at every level of Church life - parishes, dioceses, nationally, lay movements, Religious Orders and universally. So the emphasis is now firmly on HOW the Church can better live synodally.
This second module focusses on Relationships while the next two will be Pathways and then Places. Relationships includes (but not restricted to) our relationship with God; the charisms and ministries among all the baptised; relations with each other e.g. bishops and priests, laity and clergy, among clergy, among parishioners, Religious, ecumenically, Inter-Faith and secular society. The method we are using is Conversation in the Spirit, similar to last year but with some changes. Tomorrow I will explain how it works.
+Brian

(Feed generated with FetchRSS)