By Peter J. Smith
EDINBURGH, United Kingdom, April 24, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Scotland’s Catholic Bishops issued a strongly worded letter to congregations last weekend calling upon voters in the upcoming election to challenge attacks on Christian values and bring the “voice of a truly human and Christian civilisation” to Scotland.
The Scottish Bishops’ stalwart letter comes in the wake of the Labour government’s open growing antagonism toward the Church’s presence in the public sphere, especially with its inflexible position against giving Catholics freedom of conscience regarding services to homosexuals and homosexual adoptions.
Gravely disturbed by the increasing climate of political hostility, the Bishops ordered their letter be read at all Masses in Scotland’s 500 Catholic parishes during the weekend of April 14/15.
“We cannot fail to notice a conflict of values in society,” said the Bishops, saying the conflict has manifested itself in “legislation and regulations which are seriously at odds with the insights and values of our Christian faith and of other faiths”.
“The Bishops remain deeply concerned about legislation which allows abortion, embryo experimentation, easy divorce and civil partnerships,” said the Bishops, who reminded Catholics of their legacy of campaigning against poverty, injustice, and nuclear weapons.
“We foresee with apprehension a campaign to legalise euthanasia. We find ourselves having to counter criticism of the very existence of Catholic schools, in large part prompted by an agenda which aims to remove religion from the public sphere.
“Government has advanced proposals which imply a stealthy and unjust attack on the freedom of religion itself and on the rights of conscience,” decried the Bishops, referencing both the new Sexual Orientation Regulations (SOR) prohibiting Catholic adoption agencies from conscientiously objecting to homosexual adoptions and last year’s decision by the Scottish Parliament to allow unmarried and same-sex couples to adopt.
“These dubious innovations are detrimental not just to the good of the Catholic community but to the common good of humanity as a whole. They deserve to be challenged at the ballot box.”
The Bishops reminded Catholics that “many of those standing share our Christian values” and provided a questionnaire to help Catholics make electoral decisions “most in tune with the dignity of the human person and with the common good of our society.”
“Your Bishops urge you to use your vote to support the candidates who offer the best chance of bringing the voice of a truly human and Christian civilisation to the decision-making chambers of our country.”
Scotland’s 2007 Parliamentary and local elections take place May 3. Labour, suffering from a loss of popularity, faces severe electoral challenges from Alex Salmon’s Scottish National Party (SNP), which has made overtures to gain the Catholic vote. The election is expected to be decided by a narrow margin of victory.
To view the Scottish Catholic Bishops Pastoral Letter:
https://www.scmo.org/_titles/view.asp?id=509