Scottish Catholic Observer

The Scottish Government’s plans to hold referendum in 2014 on independence have sharply divided opinion among leading Scots Catholics.

An exclusive SCO survey of many of the foremost Catholic voices in Scotland found that, while most agreed it was a matter for the Scottish people to decide, there were underlying concerns that an independent Scotland could be even more hostile to Catholics than the status quo of the union.

Ecclesiastical independence

Last week’s announcement by First Minister Alex Salmond that he intended to hold the referendum in the autumn of 2014, and that a detailed consultation document on the arrangements would be published on January 25, was met with a hostile reaction from Prime Minster David Cameron and other unionist politicians, who insisted any vote should be held within 18 months.

The official position of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, expressed by Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley, is that ‘the constitutional question is a matter solely for the people of Scotland to decide.’

However, both Bishop Tartaglia and Cardinal Keith O’Brien agreed that the existing independence of the Scottish Church showed broader independence for Scotland was a viable idea.

“It is true that the Catholic Church in Scotland has a distinct and internationally recognised position,” Cardinal O’Brien said. “So it would be difficult to argue that ecclesiastical independence is acceptable but political independence is not.”

The cardinal also said he believed that the independence movement in Scotland was fuelled by ‘frustration among the Scots about the say they have over what happens here.’

Catholic schools

On the crucial issue of Catholic education, Michael McGrath, the director of the Scottish Catholic Education Service, said it was ‘unlikely’ independence would have a ‘dramatic impact’ in the ‘short term.’

Mr McGrath highlighted it was possible that independence could lead to lessening of the ‘sectarian attitudes which still prevail amongst some.’ However, he also expressed underlying fears that it could lead to ‘greater insularity amongst Scots, some of whom have traditionally held hostile attitudes towards Catholic education,’ adding that he was wary of ‘this issue distracting politicians from the major economic challenges faced by all of us for some years to come.’

Political reaction

Michael McMahon, the Scottish Labour MSP for Uddingston and Bellshill, expressed similar concerns to Mr McGrath.

“While Scotland is by no means too small or too poor to survive as a separate state, turning our neighbours into foreigners and our industrial partners into our main economic competitors will diminish us and do nothing to enhance Scotland’s position in the world, or the Catholic community’s position within Scotland,” Mr McMahon said.

Former nationalist candidate and SCO columnist David Kerr provided a riposte to that view. “As part of the United Kingdom our voice has never been listened to by London’s political elite at Westminster on a whole host of key ethical issues, abortion, stem cell research, gay adoption, nuclear weapons, the Act of Settlement, the list goes on and on,” he said. “As Blessed Pope John Paul II proclaimed 30 years ago at Bellahouston—‘Let Scotland flourish.’ That is something best achieved with independence.”

Underlying problems

Professor Emeritus Patrick Reilly of Glasgow University issued a profound warning that the independence debate could obscure serious problems in Scottish society, such as the ill treatment of Christians, in particular Catholics.

“Today, the Catholic Church now speaks for many Christian denominations on our shores,” he said. “We were once ill treated and marginalised for our Catholic Faith, we are now treated this way for being Christians. However, given the current mood in our country, nothing has changed to make me more confident that Catholics would fare any better in an independent Scotland.”

— Read full reactions to independence in this week’s edition of The Scottish Catholic Observer

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