Scottish Catholic Observer

Intolerance of Faith, religious persecution, political debate reverting to rabble… an outside observer would be forgiven for thinking this was a reference to Biblical times—the persecution of Jesus and His trial at the hands of Pontius Pilate—instead of a summary of Scotland in 2011. Yet this week Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley and Bishop Joseph Toal of Argyll and the Isles all warn, in their own ways, of the increasingly hostile, secular society Scots are living in today.

Ours is a society where Christian views, and in some cases any opposing views, are at best marginalise and, at worst, labelled as homophobic, politically incorrect and downright old-fashioned. It is a society where religion is being marched out of the public square without a backward glance, and often trampled on along the way. We live in times when political debate, as Cardinal O’Brien points out, is degenerating and at risk of devaluing democracy. And Bishop Tartaglia, in his report for the 2012 New Evangelisation Synod, speaks of ‘the new challenge of radical godlessness’ which is not just ‘indifferent to Faith and religion, but hostile to it.’ It is not a huge leap in logic to see that modern Scottish society runs the risk of oppressing dissent of any kind.

And while holding on fast to the shoots of hope—the protection of our flourishing Catholic education system and the recent concession in the archaic anti-Catholic Act of Settlement with regards to allowing those in the line to the throne to marry a Catholic—it is difficult not to dismiss fighting for the Faith as a lost cause. Not so fast. If, as we are often reminded, Catholics are in a minority in this country then we must demand the rights and protection afforded to minorities. We cannot allow crudely fashioned and poorly executed attempts at so-called ‘equality legislation’ to give less weight to our values and views than that afforded to those in far smaller but more vocal minorities, on the marginal fringes of society.

For too long Catholics have failed to evangelise; to live our Faith by standing up for what we believe in; to have the courage to speak out. We have relied on others—our bishops, Catholic organisations, Catholic politicians—to speak for us. We have become complacent.

It is not too late to turn that around. One way is to participate in the Defend Marriage postcard campaign (see page 4), and by taking part in the Scottish Government’s current consultation on redefining marriage (http:///www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current scroll down to ‘Registration to civil partnership…’). The consultation closes on December 9.

Dispelling the myth that top stories are never good news, the SCO this week brings news of the recognition of Scottish priests: Mgr Charles Burns of Paisley Diocese is to become the first ever Scottish priest to be invested as a canon of the Patriarchal Vatican Basilica of St Peter; Fr Brian Gowans, parish priest at St Joseph’s, Kelty, in St Andrews and Edinburgh Archdiocese, has been appointed as the president of the International Commission of Catholic Prison Pastoral Care and Paisley priest Fr Andrew McFadden has been appointed as principal Catholic chaplain of the Royal Navy and as vicar general of the Bishopric of the Forces.

This is not only a credit to the vocations and talents of these three ordained men, but also to the families, country, educations system and Scottish Church that supported them. They are an inspiration and role models to all, especially to young Catholics today, such as those taking part in the Pope Benedict XVI Caritas Awards (page 6) who have been inspired by the Holy Father’s 2010 Papal visit call from them to be saints of the 21st century.