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

The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

17th March 2026


17 March 2026

Scotland Rejects Assisted Dying and Affirms Human Dignity

MSPs can be confident that they have taken the correct and responsible course of action. Their vote serves to protect some of Scotland’s most vulnerable individuals from the risk of being pressured into a premature death.
Every human life possesses inherent value. Genuine compassion is not expressed through ending a life, but through accompanying those who suffer and ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual support that recognises their dignity. No life is without worth.
As a society, our responsibility is not to address suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround each person with care, respect, and dignity until their natural end. Today’s decision moves Scotland further in that direction, and MSPs should be commended for this.
However, we must continue to make progress. Our next priority must be to strengthen palliative care by ensuring that it is properly funded and accessible to all who require it.
I would like to express my gratitude to all MSPs for their serious engagement with this issue and for the thoughtful and considered attention they have given to the bill. I am especially grateful to those who upheld the principle of human dignity and advocated on behalf of the vulnerable. Your principled commitment has not gone unnoticed.
Bishop John Keenan
President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland


Contact:

Media Office

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

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.

Being Catholic TV

Members of The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

Empty
Click + to add content

News from the Commissions and Agencies

Archive by tag: Bishops' Conference of ScotlandReturn
January 2025
https://www.vaticannews.va/en/world/news/2025-01/mary-s-meals-serving-hope-one-bowl-at-a-time.html


Where hunger runs rampant, Mary's Meals is providing food to children in schools, involving communities in the process and providing sustainable ...
Read More



Bishop Frank's doing what? You heard right! Bishop Frank is doing a "Bishop Bungee" in aid of HCPT Groups 76 & 116 to help support them in bringing disabled and disadvantaged children to Lourdes on pilgrimage this Easter. For more details or to sponsor him click here: https://buff.ly/3E6LDXi
Read More



WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY - DAY 1
"The Fatherhood and Care of God Who Rules the Universe"

Prayer: Father of compassion, renew our faith in you and bind us together through your love, so that we can recognise each other as your children, and come together as one. We praise you through Jesus Christ, your only-begotten Son, in the communion of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Read More



✝️ Archbishop Nolan travels today to Jerusalem to join fellow bishops from across Europe for the Holy Land Coordination 2025. He will be accompanied by Justice & Peace Scotland's Catholic Social Teaching Engagement Officer, Anne-Marie Clements.

🙏The Holy Land Coordination is an annual meeting that is defined by four Ps – Presence, Prayer, Pilgrimage, and Pressure.

⛪The bishops, accompanied by representatives from various Catholic organisations, go to be present to the Christians who remain in the Holy Land, to let them know they are not forgotten; to pray with them; to encourage pilgrimage to their land; and to advocate on their behalf at home.

📸 Anne-Marie will be sharing "Journals From Jerusalem" posts over the next week, look out for these across our social media.

Image credit: Marcin Mazur, CBCEW.
Read More
Week of Prayer for Christian Unity 18-25th Jan
Please pray for Churches throughout Scotland

Read More



Fantastic film by @sciaf_insta and great words from Ricky Ross of Deacon Blue!
Read More



Together with the Assembly of Catholic Ordinaries of the Holy Land, we pray that the proposed ceasefire deal ends the violence that has caused immeasurable suffering.

Read the full statement on our website: https://www.sciaf.org.uk/about-us/news/736-declaration-of-the-catholic-ordinaries-on-the-ceasefire-in-gaza
Read More
https://www.ewtnvatican.com/articles/st-anthony-abbot-the-tradition-of-blessing-animals-2096


Each year on February 17th, Pope Pius XII’s Square outside of St. Peter’s Basilica turns into a farm for the Feast of St. Anthony the Abbot.
Read More
Page 124 of 199 [124]