Scottish Catholic Observer

Cardinal Keith O’Brien, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, has said he welcomes a Scottish Parliament debate aspiring to establish Scotland as a nuclear weapons free zone.

A debate on the motion by Bill King, MSP for Glasgow, which has the aim of registering Scotland as a single-state nuclear weapons free zone with the United Nations, is due to be held at the parliament tomorrow, a move that has the backing of Cardinal O’Brien.

“The views of Scotland’s MPs and MSPs is well known, and a clear majority in both parliaments oppose nuclear weapons,” the cardinal said.

“In this they join the majority of the people of Scotland, and of course the majority of Christian churches, who not only oppose the renewal of Trident, but indeed oppose the possession, threat, or use of any type of nuclear weapon. This debate serves to highlight the continued opposition to nuclear weapons in our midst, and taking place in Advent as it does, the season where churches prepare to celebrate the incarnation of the Prince of Peace, it reminds us that our own efforts for peace must never slacken.”

The cardinal went on to say that we must take ‘every opportunity to remind the people of Scotland and the UK of the reality of weapons of mass destruction in our midst.’

“And we must remind ourselves of the hope of all the faithful that the ‘Wonder-Counsellor, Mighty-God, Eternal-Father, Prince-of-Peace’ will truly ‘extend his dominion in boundless peace,’ as the prophet Isaiah promises,” (Isaiah 9:5-6, New Jerusalem Bible) the cardinal added.