Scots bishops to put forward their general election concerns

The Bishops in Scotland are to issue a pastoral letter ahead of the general election on 7 May that will be read out in parishes this weekend. 

The letter will set out principles of Catholic Social Teaching that will cover the major issues before voters and is likely to include the question of nuclear weapons.

Traditionally the Scottish bishops have opposed the Trident nuclear weapons programme and last year the Archbishop of Glasgow, Philip Tartaglia, the President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, said they should be removed from the country.

The issue has become politically charged as the Scottish National Party (SNP) is committed to the removal of strategic nuclear weapons from Scotland currently located at the Faslane base. 

But on Tuesday, during a debate between party leaders in Scotland, Jim Murphy, Labour leader and a Catholic, mounted a passionate defence of nuclear weapons, saying he did not want a unilateral disarmament that would leave Iran and North Korea with a nuclear bomb.

Speaking ahead of the letter’s release, the Bishop of Paisley, John Keenan, spoke out last week strongly in favour of the Church’s involvement in the public sphere, saying: “We need to be involved in politics, but not in power.”

His diocese and a number of Catholic organisations have recently been accredited as Living Wage employers for their active support of a minimum £7.85 hourly rate.

In a talk to school pupils at St Mirin’s Cathedral, Paisley, Bishop Keenan, a strong advocate of the Living Wage, described faith as something done with the hands and not just on one’s knees.

He said: “There is certainly a consensus among the bishops of Scotland, taking their lead from Pope Francis’ Evangelii Gaudium, that theirs isn’t a Gospel that is not social. You can’t love God without loving your country and acting in the interest of the country.”

He went on: “You can’t be concerned about your faith without being concerned about the poor.”

The 2010 bishops’ general election guidance said previous generations of Catholics would not have voted for any candidates who were in favour of abortion, assisted suicide or “rejoiced in same-sex unions”.