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.

Members of The Bishops' Conference of Scotland

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News from the Commissions and Agencies

December 2025

25Dec

What does “Happy Christmas” really mean?

25 Dec, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

What does “Happy Christmas” really mean?

Bishop Frank Dougan reflects on Christmas as truly blessed because God is with us. From the fall in Genesis to the joy of the Incarnation, he reminds us of this extraordinary truth: God became man so that we might share in His divine life.

This Christmas, we are invited not to live without God, but to rejoice in the gift of salvation and give thanks, like the shepherds, for all that God has done for us.

25Dec

As Christmas Day continues around the world, the appeal remains:

25 Dec, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

As Christmas Day continues around the world, the appeal remains:

One Day of Peace.
- Pope Leo XIV.

25Dec

Photos from Bishops' Conference of Scotland's post

25 Dec, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

26,000 people in St Peter’s Square to hear Pope Leo’s Christmas Urbi at Orbi message and receive his blessing today.

📸 Vatican Media

25Dec

"Merry Christmas!

25 Dec, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

"Merry Christmas! May the peace of Christ reign in your hearts and in your families." - Pope Leo XIV

25Dec

We wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.

25 Dec, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

We wish you all a happy and holy Christmas.

25Dec

Holy Mass of the Nativity of the Lord | 10am | 25 December 2025

25 Dec, 2025 | Being Catholic | Being Catholic |

Holy Mass of the Nativity of the Lord | 10am | 25 December 2025
This music is licensed under one license number: A-623356

25Dec

✨A happy, holy and peaceful Christmas to all from Justice & Peace Scotland

25 Dec, 2025 | Justice & Peace Scotland | Justice & Peace Scotland Facebook |

✨A happy, holy and peaceful Christmas to all from Justice & Peace Scotland.

25Dec

Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, the Birth of Jesus Christ

25 Dec, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Today, the Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, the Birth of Jesus Christ.

Christmas is a feast overflowing with joy: the Eternal Word becomes flesh and dwells among us. All that the patriarchs and prophets longed for is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Like the shepherds, we come to the manger and adore the Son of God, who came down from heaven for our salvation.

The heart of Christmas is captured beautifully in the Preface of the Nativity: "For by the mystery of the Word made flesh the light of Thy glory hath shone anew upon the eyes of our mind, so that while we acknowledge Him as God seen by men, we may be drawn by Him to the love of things unseen."

May this holy season draw us closer to Christ and to the hope He brings.

25Dec

Gospel of the day (John 1:1-5, 9-14)

25 Dec, 2025 | Bishops' Conference of Scotland | BCoS Facebook |

Gospel of the day (John 1:1-5, 9-14)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the Only Begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

24Dec

✨Only if people change will the world change and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God; the light which ...

24 Dec, 2025 | Justice & Peace Scotland | Justice & Peace Scotland Facebook |

✨Only if people change will the world change and in order to change, people need the light that comes from God; the light which so unexpectedly entered into our night, on the night of Christmas.
- Pope Benedict XVI