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implementation plan of the Recommendations of the McLellan Report

The implementation plan of the Recommendations of The McLellan Commission may be downloaded here.     The Bishops have approved this plan as the way ahead in implementing the recommendations of the McLellan Commission, like any plan it can change and develop. If anyone has any comments about the plan or its working that would help it to develop please email us at implementationplan@bcos.org.uk The closing date for this consultation is December 31st 2015....

Church responds to critics of Safeguarding strategy

...hs of the implementation plan.     Transparency and openness are at the heart of the Church’s Safeguarding mission. We do not believe any other church, charity or public body in Scotland publishes detailed annual audits nor have any undertaken a public consultation, as the Bishops’ Conference did on its implementation plan.   In releasing his report last year, Dr. McLellan described the Bishops’ decision to ask a Minister of the Church of Scotland to carry out this review as demonstrating “ecumenical trust” and “generosity of spirit” since the Church allowed Dr. McLellan two years to write his recomme...

Appointment of Baroness Helen Liddell as Chair of Independent Review Group

...Monday 5 December 2016   The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland has today announced that Baroness Helen Liddell will be the first ever Chair of the Independent Review Group (IRG) an autonomous body, which will function separately from the Church and which will review safeguarding standards and carry out independent audits.     Announcing the appointment, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, President of the Bishops’ Conference said:     “I am most grateful to Baroness Liddell for agreeing to become the first Chair of the Independent Review Group, which will review and audit the Catholic Church’s Safeguarding work. I...

Homilies and speeches delivered by Pope John Paul II during his visit to Scotland

...Murrayfield, 31 May 1982  Dear young people of Scotland!  1. Thank you for such warm words of welcome. I am happy that my first contact is with you, the pride of your beloved country and the promise of its bright future!  You are at the great crossroads of your lives and you must decide how your future can be lived happily, accepting the responsibilities which you hope will be placed squarely on your shoulders, playing an active role in the world around you. You ask me for encouragement and guidance, and most willingly I offer some words of advice to all of you, in the name of Jesus Christ.  In the first place I say this: you must never think that you are al...

Faith communities unite to pray for victims.

...Faith communities unite to pray for victims.  Cardinal, Moderator and Bishop join with Interfaith leaders to commemorate disaster.  The special Mass which Cardinal Keith O'Brien will celebrate for the victims of the Indian Ocean disaster in St. Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh on Sunday 2 January at 7.30pm will also be attended by Sikh, Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist members of Edinburgh's Interfaith Council.  The Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, Dr. Allison Elliot will participate, together with the Episcopal Bishop of Edinburgh, the Right Rev. Brian Smith.  In his homily, Cardinal O'Brien will call for long term development aid to the...

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia backs ‘journalism of moral integrity’

...Archbishop Philip Tartaglia, President of the Communications Commission of the Bishops Conference of Scotland, has written to all 500 Catholic parishes this weekend (12/13 May) to mark World Communications Day.     This year, Pope Francis has chosen ‘Truth’ as the theme of his Communications Day message and bemoaned the persistent spread of “fake news”. In his letter, based on the Pope’s theme, Archbishop Tartaglia writes:     “Pope Francis reminds us that Communication is part of God’s plan for us, allowing us to express and share all that is true, good and beautiful.”     Pope Francis has urged Catholics to:     “…contri...