Scottish Bishops close Scotland's only seminary

Briefing: more evidence of decline, although this particular seminary, Scotus College, will be no loss.  See Catholic Truth.

From CFNews: The Catholic Church announced yesterdar that it is to stop training priests in Scotland. A statement from the Scottish RC bishops' conference said seminary education would be concentrated at the Scots College Rome from the next academic year. It means the closure of Scotus College in Glasgow, where there are currently nine students. The bishops said the focus on Rome would mean benefiting from the 'spiritual, cultural and academic opportunities' at the heart of the Church.

The statement said: 'It is a matter of regret that the Catholic Church will no longer train priests in Scotland. Should the number of seminarians increase in future, the bishops would be delighted to reassess the situation.' [Edinburgh Evening News]

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Scottish Executive conceals official report on homosexual adoption

Briefing.

From LifeSiteNews: The government of Scotland plans to allow homosexual partners to foster children, but will not make public a report on the practise of allowing them to adopt children. Homosexual adoption was legalised in 2006.

The Christian Institute reports that although Scottish ministers launched an investigation last month into the results of the homosexual adoption law, the government will not release the report, saying it is only intended for use 'in house.'

The Christian Institute's Mike Judge said, 'We all deserve to know the outcome and the fact it is not being published will raise concern that ministers know their findings may alarm the public.'

Cardinal Keith O'Brien, the Catholic archbishop of Edinburgh, has issued a statement asking ministers not to extend fostering to homosexuals, but instead to encourage couples in natural marriages to foster children. The government's proposal to extend the right to foster to same-sex partners is 'as misguided and inappropriate as the previous change to allow same sex adoption' he said. The cardinal's statement cited a government consultation in 2006 that found that 80 percent of respondents were opposed to the change.

'I urge the Scottish Government not to jeopardise the welfare of children who need foster care in a similar way,' Cardinal O'Brien said.

The bias of British officials in favour of homosexuals in adoption and fostering was revealed in 2007 after two homosexual men were sentenced to five years in prison for sexually abusing the boys placed in their care. After Ian Wathey, 41, and Craig Faunch, 32, were convicted of sexually molesting 4 foster boys, the council officials who had placed the boys admitted that there had been reservations, but the two men were regarded as 'trophy carers' because of their status as homosexuals.

An independent panel was told by Wakefield Metropolitan District Council officials that 'the fear of being discriminatory' led them to 'fail to discriminate between the appropriate and the abusive.' In a period of several years Wathey and Faunch took in a total of 19 boys.

At the same time, however, a series of media reports have revealed that local council authorities in Britain are refusing to allow Christians to adopt or foster needy children, because of their traditional views on moral matters.
[LSN]

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Lesbians to get IVF: at taxpayers' expense

Briefing. 

From SPUC: A court in Scotland has persuaded the local state health authority to pay
for IVF for a female homosexual couple. Caroline Harris and Julie McMullan claimed discrimination because of their sexual orientation and the Glasgow-based health board says it re-examined their case in the light of last year's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act. [Scotsman, 27 February]

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Card. O'Brien on assisted suicide

Briefing.

From SPUC: The Catholic church in Scotland has warned that legalisation of assisted
suicide there could lead to depressed people killing themselves. Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, warned that vulnerable people could be manipulated. Ms Margo MacDonald MSP, who is proposing the bill, dismissed the concerns as nonsense. [Scotland on Sunday, 22 February] A case in the Indian supreme court would reportedly legalise euthanasia, and the country's Catholic bishops have expressed concern. [Catholic News Agency, 23 February]

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Catholic Agencies latest

Briefing.

From CFNews: Two church-run adoption agencies have changed their charitable objects to allow them to turn away same-sex couples on religious grounds.

St Margaret's Adoption and Child Care Society, a Catholic agency in Glasgow, and the Cornerstone Adoption and Fostering Service, an evangelical agency in the north east of England, will now be able to comply with new homosexual rights laws while remaining true to their religious convictions.

Their success in changing their constitutions to comply with the law and stay within the control of their respective churches has raised serious questions over why the eleven English and Welsh Catholic adoption agencies have been unable to do the same.

So far, five of these have broken ties with the bishops to become independent secular institutions and one has wound up its adoption service altogether. Two others are undecided, while those in Westminster, Birmingham and Leeds have seen their applications to change their objects turned down by the Charity Commission.

There are just six weeks remaining before the agencies must comply with the Sexual Orientation Regulations (SORs) that were brought in to ban discrimination against homosexual people in the provision of goods and services.

But there is still time for the agencies to follow the route taken by St Margaret's and Cornerstone.

Neil Addison, a barrister and expert in religious hatred law, said: 'The agencies can amend their constitutions within 24 hours if they wanted to. That is not the problem. All that is lacking is the will.'

He said the agencies were in a position to comply with the SORs and be protected under Part 2 of the Equality Act 2006 - which prevents local authorities discriminating against organisations on the grounds of their religious beliefs - and under Article 9 of the Convention of Human Rights, which guarantees the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion.

He said he thought that the 'real reason' why many agencies had cut ties with the Church was because they were happy to comply with the SORs.

Lawyers representing the three adoption agencies that failed in their attempts to change their objects have been in contact with Cornerstone and St Margaret's to try to find out why they have succeeded.

They had earlier hoped that by explicitly stating that the agencies dealt solely with married couples and single people they would satisfy Regulation 18 of the SORs.

This allows limited discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation by 'reason of, or on the grounds of, the provisions of a charitable instrument'.

But some experts say their approach is directly discriminatory and offers no protection under existing religious discrimination laws. The successful agencies re-worded their objects to specifically refer to their religious character. Discrimination against homosexual couples would be indirect and a consequence of observing their religious ideals.

Jane Hasnip, the chief executive of Cornerstone, based in Stockton-on-Tees, said: 'We comply with Regulation 18 of the SORs because of the way in which our memorandum has been drawn up.

'We have drawn up a statement of faith and a code of practice which basically everyone connected with Cornerstone has to comply with. Part of that code states that people who come to us should be married and marriage is between male and female. We don't actually say we don't accept same-sex couples. Instead, we set out what we believe the Bible's definition of marriage is.'

Jim Richards, the director of the Catholic Children's Society (Westminster), said the success of Cornerstone had 'given hope' to the trustees of his agency in their efforts to both comply with the SORs and to remain in the control of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

'Our solicitors will use all legal arguments open to us,' he said.

The English and Welsh Catholic adoption agencies, which together find new homes for 250 children a year, have until New Year's Day to comply with the SORs or face the prospect of legal action or the withdrawal of their funding by local authorities.

The response of the Catholic Church in England and Wales to the threat to its adoption agencies has been undermined by internal divisions.

Although the bishops were united in opposing the SORs, they have failed to achieve consensus in how their agencies should respond to the law.

The agencies, as charities in their own right, were finally given the task of tackling the problem as they saw fit.

However, they were advised by the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales not to explore legal avenues that would allow them to comply with the SORs and remain Catholic.

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Support for Obama from British Catholic clergy

Briefing: Catholic bishops and priests in the United States, who have risked the wrath of the liberal establishment by pointing out that it is wrong to vote for a man who has vowed to remove all legal restrictions on abortion in America, and will certainly appoint Supreme Court judges who are solidly pro-abortion, will be saddened to hear of the support for Obama from British Catholics whose liberal instincts seem to be stronger than their Catholic ones.

An American priest, David Cotter of St Aidan’s, Johnstone (Diocese of Paisley, Scotland) appeared on the radio to proclaim his support for Obama, dismissing the importance of abortion as an electoral issue, and ridiculing a recording of the Ave Maria at the same time. H-t to Catholic Truth, where there is more commentary. See the broadcast here.

Bishop Hollis of Portsmouth has this to day, in a 'Special Message' on his diocesan homepage: “With millions of others, I have been thrilled by Barack Obama’s victory and I thank God for it. For me, it represents a rare moment of hope and optimism which shows American democracy at its best and it is of seismic significance and potential for the whole global community. And so, more than ever now, he deserves and needs us to keep him in our prayers.”   

Prayers for his conversion would certainly not go amiss. Prayers in regard to the millions of abortions he is going to facilitate would be even more apposite. See John Smeaton on Obama's anti-life views, which are the most extreme of any major US politician.

By contrast, Bishop O'Donaghue said this about voting for the pro-abortion candidates:

So can a Catholic in good conscience vote and campaign for a political candidate who supports and promotes abortion ...? My personal answer to this question is: I can’t and I won’t.

See a longer extract here.

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Cardinal O'Brien: HFEA bill like Nazi practices

Briefing. The HFEA bill has been passed by the House of Lords; the number of Lords willing to vote for a small amelioration of it was a pathetic 39. Cardinal O'Brien is quite right to cite the historical experience of the Nazis: horror at what the Nazis did in their experiments set back the abortion/eugenics movement by thirty years. Now the time is up, and Dr Mengele is forgiven.

From SPUC: The British government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill is destined to become law. The House of Lords yesterday completed its third reading, approving all amendments by the House of Commons. [Official Report, 29 October] An attempt to restrict the research on human/animal admixed embryos was defeated. Lord Alton of Liverpool proposed that the bill should stipulate that such beings could only be used when there was no alternative. 202 peers opposed the amendment while 39 supported it. [Herald, 30 October] The leader of Scottish Catholics has compared the British government to the Nazis. In an open letter to Mr Gordon Brown, the prime minister, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, called the embryology bill misguided and compared its various provisions to the horrors of the Hitler regime. He writes: "The hideous savagery of [Nazi] experiments convinced the civilised world that such practices [had to] be outlawed forever." The cardinal urged Mr Brown to amend the bill "as a matter of great urgency and human decency." [John
Smeaton, 28 October] Lord Winston, the fertility specialist described the cardinal's remarks as unhelpful. [East Kilbride News, 29 October] The Catholic Archbishop of New York also referred to totalitarian regimes when writing about abortion. Cardinal Edward Egan described how Hitler and Stalin regarded certain groups as sub-human and likened this to the treatment of the unborn. [CNA on EWTN, 28 October]

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Composer: Labour anti-Catholic

Briefing.

From CFNews: A renowned composer has declared that there is no place any more for Catholics in New Labour. James MacMillan, writing in the Daily Telegraph, argued that Catholics had been alienated by recent House of Commons votes on abortion, human-animal embryos and 'saviour siblings'. As a result, he predicted, Labour would lose the July 24 by-election in Glasgow East, where there are many working-class Catholic voters. 'To many old-style socialists, there is nothing more fundamental to a just and fair society than the protection of its most vulnerable members and their right to life', he wrote.

'The recent Commons vote represents a tipping point for many Labour voters in Scotland. Party numbers in both parliaments could soon be decimated.' Mr MacMillan has been composer and conductor with the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra since 2000. He has composed several Masses, including one which was commissioned by Westminster Cathedral. He has long had political concerns and was a Labour Party branch chairman in the '980s. But he fell out with Labour over what he cals their 'lifestyle liberalism' in such areas as the traditional family and education, sexual mores, artistic aspirations and religious belief.

There is 'a growing anti-Catholic prejudice' in the Labour Party, he wrote. He quoted Labour MEP Mary Honeyball saying that 'democracy and religion do not mix' and questioning whether Catholics such as Ruth Kelly, Des Browne and Paul Murphy should be 'allowed' a place on the front bench. Mr MacMillan argued that Christian beliefs had been 'dumped contemptuously' by the Labour Party. [Catholic Herald] 1464.22

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Trans-Alpine Redemporists to seek reconciliation with Rome

Update: The Transalpine Redemptorists, a small traditionalist community on the island of Orkney, has been reconciled with the Holy See, the Rorate Caeli blog has revealed. Father Michael Mary, the vicar general of the Transalpine Redemptorists, announced on the group's own blog that the community had been informed that the suspension of its priests has been lifed by the Vatican. 'All canonical censures have been lifted,' he said, and the group has been welcomed into 'undisputed communion' with the Holy See. The traditionalist leader said that he had 'humbly petitioned' the Vatican for a restoration of communion, in a June 18 meeting with Cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos, the president of the Ecclesia Dei commission. The Vatican replied positively on June 26, he reported. Father Michael Mary expressed his gratitude, and that of the Transalpine Redemptorists, to Pope Benedict XVI, 'for issuing, last July, the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum which called us to come into undisputed and peaceful Communion with him.'

Action: prayers, please, 22/04/08for this monastery on Papa Stronsay in the Orkneys. It has been one of the religious orders loosely affiliated to the Society of St Pius X, and therefore in 'imperfect communion' with Rome, since its inception. Now, following the Motu Proprio, they hope for reconciliation. This is one of the beneficial effects the Pope hoped for in issuing the MP; another small group, 'Oasis', based in Spain, has already been reconciled.

Hat-tip to Valle Adurni.

From the Redemptorists' blog, the Superior makes some interesting points:

• The fact is that we have the Mass vindicated by the Pope; he is trying to change other things quickly; and he is calling us back to himself.
• Yes there are still problems about ecumenism and collegiality, but problems are not new to the Church we can battle through them if we have the Mass.
• Sooner or later we must all heed the Pope’s call or become something different from Catholic.
• Some people will fear and will be a long time learning to trust the Pope again; God is merciful and God may wait. Some are nearly ready to accept the Pope. A lot are edified with what he is trying to do.

See the full post here.

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Automatic Down's testing - and murder - of Scottish babies

Briefing.

From SPUC: Prenatal testing for Down's syndrome is to be offered to all pregnantwomen in Scotland. First-trimester nuchal translucency scans and bloodtests will be universally available in three years' time. Down's SyndromeScotland, said: "We do not believe that a diagnosis of Down's Syndromeshould be an automatic reason for a termination." SPUC Scotland was quotedas saying: "The fact is by constantly suggesting pregnant women should betested in this way we create a fear of disabilities such as Down's."[Scotland on Sunday, 29 June] An ultrasound scan at seven weeks' gestationwas misinterpreted to suggest that an unborn baby had died. Leona-LeeGray's mother declined offers of interventions to remove the child, whohas since been born in north-east England. [Mirror, 28 June]

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Fast-track abortions for Scotland

Briefing. The Catholic spokesman is spot on: pro-abortionists want abortion to be a routine procedure, like having an innoculation. Recently Scotland's abortion rate was revealed to be higher than ever.

From SPUC: A Scottish governmental agency has published a plan under which nearlythree quarters of women requesting an abortion will get one before nineweeks' gestation. Quality Improvement Scotland says there are fewercomplications with early abortions. Its report says post-abortioncounselling should be provided to women requesting it and that womenhaving an abortion should be offered birth control. The Catholic churchsaid: "There is a very real danger that this fast-tracking may lead toabortion being seen as a routine medical procedure. With our alreadysky-high abortion rates, this is a very dangerous and very unhelpfulmessage to send out." [Scotsman, 1 June]

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Catholic Truth Scotland: May Newsletter

The 50th edition! Available to download here.

Includes:
Fatima and the Five First Saturdays p1
Profile of the founding team of Catholic Truth p3
'Fr McHaggis' on the never-ending series of sexual scandals among the Scottish clergy p4
The Scottish Bishops 2006 accounts p7
The Immaculate Conception p10
The Editor in conversation with her Guardian Angel p12

Fr McHaggis on the work of Catholic Truth Scotland: The lay people who began Catholic Truth had for years previously been writing to the bishops and the clergy, and in some cases even to the Roman Curia, to make their worries known in relation to a wide range of issues, only to be fobbed off with poopooing platitudes or, in most cases, to meet with no response at all.

Hence the newsletter, born of the conviction , as expressed in Canon 212, §3 of the Code of Canon Law, that the laity ‘have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful...’

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Bishop Devine attacks gay lobby

Action: please support Bishop Devine. Talk of 'conspiracy' makes him sound like a crack-pot, but it is undeniable that the gay lobby have been and are engaged in a concerted campaign against Christian morality, and the sooner this was acknowledged the better. He'll be receiving sack-fulls of hate-mail; please email your support through chancellor@rcdom.org.uk.
Bishop Devine's speech was part of the Gonzaga Lectures series. Sadly, an earlier lecture in the same series was used as a bully pulpit to attack the Church, by a well-known dissenting priest, Fr Monaghan.

From Catholic World News, in part: In a campus lecture on March 11 he said that homosexual activists have worked steadily to change public attitudes, while Christians have failed to uphold their principles. "The opposition know exactly what they're doing," the bishop said. "We don't." Pressure for social change, Bishop Devine said, "was bound to result in state-sponsored morality at war with Christian values." Exhorting Christians to join in the cultural battle, he said: "We must resist being corrupted by secularism." (First report in full here.)

The bishop reportedly said: "The homosexual lobby has been extremely effective in aligning itself with minority groups. It is ever-present at the service each year for the Holocaust memorial, as if to create for themselves the image of a group of people under persecution. We neglect the gay movement at our peril." He added that there was a "huge and well-orchestrated conspiracy" taking place, which the Catholic community had missed.

Bishop Devine's comments have been condemned by gay rights groups and Holocaust survivor organisations. However, yesterday Bishop Devine remained firm in the face of the criticism. "These groups are defending their position, I am defending mine," he said.

"The homosexual lobby has identified itself with people who have gone through dreadful persecution - the impression is that they have been equally persecuted.

"It is all about a lifestyle alien to the Christian tradition. There is a giant conspiracy against Christian values, an agenda here. I stand by what I said."

Lothians MSP George Foulkes has tabled a motion in the Scottish Parliament over the bishop's "unfortunate, outdated and unchristian remarks". The motion calls on the Parliament to "tackle prejudice in all its forms" and acknowledge the right of the gay community to mark Holocaust Memorial Day. (Follow-up report in full here.)

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Scottish priests involved in abortion and homosexual activism

Briefing. This shocking story is in the public domain, but the priests involved, Fr Monaghan and Fr Breslin, are still free to carry on giving talks in Catholic churches (in the first case) and working as a supply priest (in the second). Will the scandal of inaction by the bishops involved never end? The only way to end it is by exposing the matter once again.

From Catholic Truth Scotland, March 2008 Newsletter p4:Scotland’s Shame - a synopsis of the part played by the Church in the normalising of homosexuality in Scotland

It is often said that those who fail to learn the lessons of history are fated to make the same mistakes. Because priests are getting involved in homosexual groups it may be timely to record what happened once before when Scottish priests assisted a 'gay rights group'.

The early ‘gay rights group’ was called 'Scottish Minorities Group' (SMG) and was set up in 1969 by a Glasgow student called Ian Dunn who continued to lead it until his death in 1996. This whole enterprise needed the backing of SMG as a 'lobby group' and that in turn depended on the fact that SMG had been given instrumental assistance to organise at its inception. That help was provided by two priests.

Firstly, in 1980 Fr Anthony Ross O.P. stated at a conference on 'Pastoral Approaches to Homosexuality': 'I have advised people sometimes to get a flat and move in together because they were in an intermittent relationship that was proving frustrating' adding that he was 'not concerned' whether it was heterosexual or homosexual 'involvement' (The Pitlochry Papers 1981 published by Scottish Homosexual Rights Group - SHRG).

As Catholic Chaplain at Edinburgh University, Fr Anthony Ross allowed SMG to hold meetings in his Chaplaincy1 including Scotland’s first ever commercial ‘gay dances’2 which raised the money that purchased premises in Broughton St.3 SMG was also provided with a base in Glasgow at the Iona Community Centre, 214 Clyde St which also provided its 'mail-box'. It was from here that the Secretary of SMG, Fr John Breslin of Motherwell, operated.4

From 1971 to 75 he also edited the group’s newsletter SMG News.5 It was in the October 1974 edition that adverts appeared for a group for paedophiles, which was set up by Ian Dunn and two SMG members, and called 'Paedophile Information Exchange’ (P.I.E.) 6 The aim was to effect a change in society to enable paedophilia to become legal. The advert urged members to apply ‘c/o SMG News, 216 Clyde St, Glasgow’7 which was Fr Breslin’s mail-box.

The next issue (Nov 74) announced that ‘P.I.E. is well under way’. It is significant that up till now (March 08) Fr Breslin has never been challenged about his role in setting up P.I.E. (Ed: consider it done)

In 1975 P.I.E. moved base to London, where the leaders were eventually prosecuted under the Obscene Publications law and for publishing a list of paedophile ‘contacts’8. The resultant press outcry put intense pressure on the new leaders, forcing them to 'reach out for support' from the 'fringe revolutionary left' by publishing a new magazine in which children were presented as the 'victims of capitalist society'.

To run the magazine the new leaders obtained Dunn’s consent to use his Edinburgh flat as the publication’s mailing-address.9

In 1980 Dunn persuaded a local MP Robin Cook to spearhead 'gay law reform' in Scotland - see www.scotsgay.co.uk/dunn/index.html In 1984 Dunn then set up a ‘Lesbian and Gay Socialist Conference’ with a ‘workshop’ on paedophilia.10 At this conference, Dunn admitted having had sex with a boy of 14.11

He also set up a ‘contact-circle’ for men turned on by a particular depravity 12 - a depravity which carries an intrinsic risk of contracting AIDS.13 In 1978 SMG changed its name to Scottish Homosexual Rights Group (SHRG). Fr Andrew Monaghan - the Edinburgh priest who, to this day, hosts Radio Forth’s Open Line phone-in - recommended SHRG to homosexual callers.14

The above evidence was accepted by the police, who promptly closed down Dunn's 'contact-circle', by the Labour Party, who de-selected Dunn as a candidate in Regional elections and by national newspapers which exposed Dunn's links with P.I.E. The only person it failed to impress was Fr Monaghan's superior, Archbishop O'Brien, who defied a Vatican order to remove him from broadcasting and he has since continued to recommend callers to ‘gay’ switchboards/groups. (Ed: incredibly, Fr Monaghan has been invited to deliver the Gonzaga Lecture at St Aloysius Jesuit Church, Glasgow on 4/3/08 with Bishop Devine of Motherwell taking the same platform one week later)

Fr Breslin, who helped launch P.I.E., has continued to be associated with groups like the 'Gay Christian Movement' and 'Quest' and, claiming that one in seven priests are homosexual, he set up a 'gay clergy help group' called 'The Scottish Clergy Consultation Group' (Catholic Times 23.2.03) He even spoke at an event to 'celebrate homosexuality' at Southwark's Anglican Cathedral. Retired now, Fr Breslin continues to work in parishes in the Motherwell Diocese as a supply priest. So both Cardinal O'Brien and Bishop Devine support priests who have given considerable support to the 'homosexual movement'. It is shocking to think that Catholic priests, with the continuing support of their bishops, actively supported a movement with links to paedophilia. “Sectarianism” has sometimes been described as “Scotland’s shame”. I believe that it is the complicity of these priests and their bishops in the rise of homosexuality within the Church that is truly “Scotland’s shame”.

Iain Colquhoun is a retired nurse who worked undercover with the awareness of Edinburgh police to monitor the Homosexual rights movement from July to December 1984 and the evidence he gathered on Dunn's involvement in P.I.E. was published in both the Scottish Sunday Mail and the Daily Star. This publicity coincided with the demise of the organisation.

References (1) SHRG archive GD1467/1/3/9 at the National Archives of Scotland. (2) SHRG archive cited above. (3) SHRG publicity material. (4) SMG News December 1971 (5) ibid (6)‘The Sexual Dead-End’ by Dr Stephen Green, (hereafter SDE) ISBN 0 9519934 0 2, Broadview Books, 1992. (7) 'Information about P.I.E.’ 1974. (8) SDE p. 212. (9) Letter from Dunn in ‘Gay Scotland’ May/June 1987. (10) SHRG publicity material (11) SDE p 213 (12) SDE p 86 (13) ibid (14) Letter from Fr Monaghan of June 1985 in response to complaints about his recommendations. Further details on the above are contained on Iain Colquhoun's website: see the pdf here from p5-15 on.

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Catholic Truth Scotland: Jan Newsletter available

Download it here.

Inside: the Church in Scotland is a year late in filing its accounts to the Scottish Charities Regulator; the cost of 'ecumenical' initiatives (and the ecumenical chapel, supported by the Catholic Bishops, where you can get a blessing for a civil partnership); the novel theology of Fr Ronald Rolheiser (see next post).

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Conference in Glasgow

Catholic Truth Scotland is hosting a conference in Glasgow:

The Crisis in the Church: Facing the Truth.

The Conference will be held on 17 May, 2008

in the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Congress Road, Glasgow 9.30 a.m. - 5 p.m.

The keynote speaker will be Mrs Daphne MacLeod of Pro Ecclesiae et Pontifice,
whose talk is entitled 'What Happened to Catholic Schools?"

See here for more information.

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Catholic Truth Scotland

For information: the new website is worth a look. See here. Catholic Truth Scotland is involved in the difficult, dangerous and thankless work of challenging dissent in the Church in Scotland. Anyone who has seen the bizarre attack on the Editor in The Times (picked up by the Catholic Herald), can see a reply here.

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Archbishop Smith: no communion for pro-abortion politicians

Briefing.

From CFNews: Politicians who vote in favour of abortion should not take Communion, the Catholic Archbishop of Cardiff said this week, adding his voice to that of the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland. Archbishop Peter Smith said he would not bar them from taking Communion, but he would expect the politician involved not to seek it. His comments are the latest in a row begun by the head of the Catholic Church in Scotland, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, who this week, questioned the right of pro-abortion MPs to take Communion. Speaking in a sermon marking 40 years since the Abortion Act, Cardinal O'Brien was reported in the media as saying the politicans should not expect to remain full church members. He went on to liken the abortion rate north of the border to 'two Dunblane massacres a day'. The Welsh prelate backed the Cardinal's words, telling BBC radio that it reflected the general teaching of the Church. 'The church's law is quite clear,' said Archbishop Smith. 'A priest or bishop is not permitted to refuse Communion unless it is quite clear that the person has been excommunicated or there is a very public rejection of church teaching.'

But he went on: 'The pastoral reality is, as the Pope has said recently in Mexico, that if a Catholic politician manifestly, clearly goes against the Church's teaching, then they ought to remove themselves from receiving Communion, because it would be a cause of great scandal.' Pro-abortionists and some MPs have said politicians should be left to decide on such sensitive ethical issues as abortion without being placed under pressure or threats from religious leaders. The leader of Catholics in England and Wales, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, has emphasised his opposition to abortion, although in more measured terms than his Scottish counterpart. He said: 'I would urge all Catholics, especially those who hold positions of public responsibility, to educate themselves about the teaching of the Church, and to seek pastoral advice so that they can make informed decisions with consistency and integrity.'

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Scottish NUS to vote on 'homophobic' Christian course

Briefing.

From Christian Concern for our Nation: MEMBERS of the Scottish National Union of Students are attempting to ban a Christian course on relationships from taking place on university and college campuses.

At tomorrow's (26 May) Annual Meeting of the Scottish NUS in Glasgow, a Private Members Motion calls on delegates to pass a resolution banning the Pure Course on the basis that it is homophobic.

The course, run by Christian Unions, is based on the orthodox Christian teachings concerning marriage, and teaches the importance of fidelity in relationships. It has been run on campuses throughout Scotland over the past 18 months. The Pure course was suspended from being taught on campus by Edinburgh University at the end of last year following claims by the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Trans-gendered Society that it was discriminatory and breached Equal Opportunities Policies. However, the University, after examining the course, allowed the CU to continue to teach it on campus, rejecting the claims.

The NUS motion to be debated claims: "The pure course is a homophobic course that denounces homosexuality as 'sexually immoral', supports the suppression and 'healing' of homosexuality, and advises students with 'same sex impulses' to consult homophobic literature to attempt to cure them of their homosexual tendencies."

However, Anna Shilliday, a Christian who supports the right of Christian students to meet and discuss the Bible's teaching on relationships, in the same way she defends the rights of all students including gay groups to hold seminars based on their beliefs, will speak against the motion on two grounds.

Miss Shilliday will tell delegates that approving such an amendment will make a "laughing stock" of the way NUS Conference resolutions are made, and that the claims of the motion are groundless.

In her speech she will say: "The Motion calls for a ban on the Pure course, but there has been no official opportunity for delegates to hear proper representation from UCCF, or the course writers, or presenters. This makes a mockery of quality debate, and is an insult to those of us being asked to vote on it. It invalidates any serious attempt we may wish for Conference decisions to be taken seriously by the outside world.

"Delegates are being asked to ban something they have never seen, read or in some cases, ever heard of. This is nonsense. As undergraduates or post graduates, we are taught, and pride ourselves, in research, examining the evidence, reflecting and then forming sound judgements and opinions based on careful analysis. Where is the evidence from both sides to this motion?

"Conference, voting on this motion without each of us having at least read the materials encourages us to be as prejudicial and intolerant of the Pure course as this motion claims the Pure course is of our friends and fellow colleagues who are homosexuals."

Miss Shilliday will tell fellow students that the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender societies in Aberdeen and Glasgow have very good relationships with
the Christian Unions and the Pure course has been run in both these universities, without problems, despite holding disagreements."

Kay Cathcart, UCCF staff worker for Edinburgh CUs, said: "The purpose of the Pure course is to help Christian Union members develop a biblical perspective on their relationships. It is about living out relationships in the light of God's love, forgiveness and design. God values us all as people made in his image and it is in response to our relationship with him that Christians choose not to satisfy their sexual desires outside of marriage, whether in a heterosexual or homosexual context. Refraining from acting on some of our sexual desires is a good and normal part of human experience. None of this promotes homophobia.

"The Pure course is not a 'healing' course for homosexuality. If someone on the course recognised strong feelings of same-sex attraction and requested guidance, we would encourage them to contact the True Freedom Trust, which would empathise and help them to work out what they actually want to do.

Miss Shilliday will advise conference that the allegations of homophobia could easily have been refuted if UCCF/Pure course leaders had been allowed representation.

ENDS.

For further information: Kay Cathcart 07954 162 488 (UCCF workers); Paul Eddy
(PR) 01202 522177, 08932 019 430.


Editor's Notes:-

The wording of the Anti-Pure Course motion is as follows:-

The Motion:
Conference believes:
1.That over the past year the UCCF has attempted to run a course called PURE at colleges and universities in Scotland through their Christian unions.
2. The pure course is a homophobic course that denounces homosexuality as 'sexually immoral', supports the suppression and 'healing' of homosexuality, and advises students with 'same sex impulses' to consult homophobic literature to attempt to cure them of their homosexual tendencies.
Conferences further believe:
1. That this sort of intolerance and prejudice is unacceptable regardless of where it comes from.
2. That pure and other similar courses promote the continued homophobia we see in society and affect vulnerable LGBT students.
3. That homophobia on our campuses must be stopped
4. That our pure prejudice campaign has helped prevent the pure course from running on our campuses so far.
5. That it is vital LGBT Officers and societies are kept informed about the pure course and similar courses
6. That it is important for our campaign to continue to support LGBT students with faith in organised religion
7. That neither religion nor faith should be used as a shield to deflect criticism of homophobia.
Conference resolves:
1. To condemn the pure course and other similar homophobic courses
2. To continue the pure prejudice campaign to keep the pure course out of Scotland
3. To help LGBT officers and societies campaign against these courses on our college and university campuses
4. To continue to support LGBT students of religious and work with religious organisations to promote tolerance, understanding and better working
relationships.

UCCF's brief response at the request of Anna Shilliday:-

UCCF statement for NUS Scotland conference regarding the Pure course. (May 2007)

We find common ground with the desire expressed in this motion to work against hate and intolerance.

The purpose of the Pure course is to help Christian Union members develop a biblical perspective on their relationships. It is about living out relationships in the light of God's love, forgiveness and design. God values us all as people made in his image and it is in response to our relationship with him that Christians choose not to satisfy their sexual desires outside of marriage, whether in a heterosexual or homosexual context. Refraining from acting on some of our sexual desires is a good and normal part of human experience. None of this promotes homophobia.

The Pure course is not a 'healing' course for homosexuality. If someone on the course recognised strong feelings of same-sex attraction and requested guidance, we would encourage them to contact the True Freedom Trust, which would empathise and help them to work out what they actually want to do.

To say that the Pure course does not agree with LGBT views on homosexuality is true. To suggest that anything in the Pure Course constitutes hate speech or promotes hatred towards homosexuality is untrue and irresponsible. The motion as it stands could lead to innocent people being unjustifiably accused of homophobia and prejudice. This is a very serious and avoidable outcome. We do not serve each other well by banning each other's views, or stereotyping each other's responses, particularly in matters of such fundamental personal and social importance..

The motion resolves to support LGBT students with religious faith, yet at the same time the motion discriminates against those LGBT students who wish to explore the historic, orthodox Christian views expressed in Pure. The only consistent way to truly respect LGBT students who choose not to live a gay or lesbian lifestyle because of their faith, is to allow the Pure course even while disagreeing with its contents.

In conclusion we submit that the motion does not accurately represent the Pure course's aims or values. Nor is it responsible in seeking to ban Pure, since the repercussions of such a major removal of basic freedom will be significantly harmful to the student body. We wholeheartedly support the desire to speak well of each other, even when we disagree and to that end would appreciate dialogue that allows concerns to be expressed and understood. UCCF would be positive about promoting NUS initiatives that encouraged dialogue with CUs. In addition we are confident that CU's would welcome any NUS representatives who wished to experience the course for themselves."

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Scottish Bishops: call for voters to examine politicians on pro-life issues

Briefing.

From SPUC. A letter by the Catholic bishops of Scotland has been read out in 500 parishes, encouraging people to question election candidates about their views on moral issues including abortion, euthanasia and embryo research. [BBC, 15 April] The letter stated: "We invite you to look beyond the superficially attractive and fashionable to recognize those policies and values which are most in tune with the dignity of the human person and with the common good of our society." [Zenit, 15 April]

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