Scottish Catholic Observer

Scotland’s two archbishops have sent messages this weekend urging parishioners to vote in the upcoming independence referendum.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow and Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews and Edinburgh are calling for their congregations to engage with the issues being raised in the run up to the September 18 vote

‘The Scottish independence referendum is now just a short time away,” Archbishop Tartaglia, president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, writes. “Along with the bishops of Scotland, who are deeply conscious of the importance of this referendum, I encourage and urge all those eligible to vote to do so with complete freedom of choice and in accordance with their prayerful judgment of what is best for the future. May God guide us and bless us in whatever choice we make in good conscience.”

In his letter, Archbishop Cushley said that he has often been asked for his personal opinion on the referendum debate and is writing to give his response.

“Urged by the love of Christ, we are called to be citizens who contribute positively to the common good and who strive always to consider others and their good before our own,” Archbishop Cushley writes. “We are called to promote peace, integral human development and authentic human rights, and to have a special care for the poorest and the weakest in society.

“We are also concerned for the rights of all people, to freedom of conscience and to the right to believe and to practise their faith.

“These freedoms are absolutely essential to a modern democratic society and we should always be vigilant of those who would seek to limit them.”

Archbishop Cushley encourages his flock ‘in the light of Catholic social teaching, carefully to consider the issues and to do your civic duty on the day itself.’

The independence referendum will take place in less than three weeks, with the latest opinion polls showing the gap between both sides narrowing. In a poll of 1001 Scottish residents released on Friday, the Yes camp had risen from 43 per cent to 47, while the No camp had fallen from 57 per cent to 53, with undecided votes excluded.

—To vote in the Independence Referendum you must be 16 or over and have registered to vote by September 2. For more information visit www.aboutmyvote.co.uk/referendum_scotland.aspx

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—Pic: Paul McSherry