Scottish Catholic Observer

The letter was sent out to every parish in Scotland ahead of the January 3 Day of Prayer. Bishop Nolan, the Bishop of Galloway, is president of the Justice and Peace Commission of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

“The Church begins each New Year with a day of prayer for peace,” Bishop Nolan writes. “Yet each New Year peace seems as elusive and as far off as ever. The names of the war zones may change, but conflicts remain, and war and terrorism never seem to go away.

“All too often we see humanity try to resolve conflict with the bullet and the bomb. All too often we see property destroyed, communities shattered and innocent human life snuffed out.”

Though we are currently focused on religious fundamentalism as the cause of war, he writes, history is ‘littered with isms: nationalism, imperialism, communism, capitalism, racism,’ which have lead to conflict.

“The birth of Jesus into our world 2000 years ago is a reminder to us that we cannot save ourselves,” he writes. “Our flawed human nature means that any peace we achieve is often a flawed peace carrying in itself the seeds of its own destruction.

“That is why we have a day of prayer for peace, for we need God to change us. This year we pray for peace during the Year of Mercy.

“For only human beings who are merciful to each other can ever live in peace and harmony and in a world free of violence and war,” Bishop Nolan concludes.

“Keeping in mind the theme of this Holy Year, may our prayer for peace enable us to become Merciful like the Father.”

He added that: “We need God’s mercy to touch our hearts and the hearts of our fellow human beings. We need God’s mercy to heal the rifts and divisions that fracture our relationships.

“We need God’s mercy to soothe away the hurts and pains that keep bitterness alive in our hearts.

“We need God’s mercy to teach us to be merciful ourselves.”

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—This story ran in full in the January 8 edition print of the SCO, available in parishes.