Scottish Catholic Observer

Just over a year ago the Holy Father visited Scotland and England, uniting people of faith with his message of the dangers of rampant secularism and the need to respect the Christian roots of our society, a message addressed to lay Catholics and politicians alike.

A year on Catholics have kept Pope Benedict XVI’s message alive, most recently by celebrating the anniversary of his visit, but what of our politicians?

While on our shores the Pope spoke to the Faithful, other faiths and elected representatives alike, gathered at Holyroodhouse Palace in Edinburgh, Bellahouston Park in Glasgow, and later at events in England. A year on from when the Pope addressed representatives of civil society in Westminster Hall, affirming that politics and religion have nothing to fear from each other in constructive dialogue, Cardinal Keith O’Brien has addressed to politicians in Edinburgh during Mass a more pointed message.

While the Pope’s message remains in the hearts and minds of many Scots, as demonstrated so vividly by the Papal visit anniversary celebrations of school pupils at events last week, attacks on Christian values remain, and indeed continue to gather strength as has been demonstrated by UK-wide proposals to legalise same-sex marriages and suggestions that Catholic education contributes to sectarianism in this country.

In spite of Prime Minister David Cameron’s comments last weekend that the Pope’s messages of 2010 are ‘relevant today,’ his government—seemingly at his personal behest—plan on changing the law to allow same-sex couples to marry in England. The announcement follows hard on the heels of news that Alex Salmond’s Scottish Government is backing the same measures here.

“Any attempt to redefine marriage is a direct attack on a foundational building block of society and will be strenuously opposed,” Cardinal O’Brien told the Scottish politicians gathered for the recent Mass for MSPs at St Patrick’s, Cowgate, in the capital, the Scottish Parliament’s parish.

Last Friday Archbishop Mario Conti of Glasgow recalled the Pope’s messages from last year that ‘a dictatorship of relativism threatens to obscure the unchanging truth about man’s nature, his destiny and his ultimate good.’ “You do not need me to tell you of the relevance of those words in Scotland today,” the archbishop said.

Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley’s recent warning of future voter behaviour should the Scottish Government continue down this path is also timely. “A government that favours and allows for same-sex marriage does wrong,” he said. “Such a government does not deserve the trust which the nation… has shown in it.”

On the subject of Catholic education, even recent ‘support’ of faith education from Scottish Conservative leadership candidates comes with a disturbing undertone.

While leadership hopeful Ruth Davidson spoke highly of Catholic schools in our state education system she added that: “I’ve never personally understood why councils are the de facto supplier of education and there’s no choice.”

While there is a separation of Church and State in this country, religion must not be excluded from the public square. Perhaps our elected representatives should think on that instead of perpetrating more of this perceived recent ‘double dealing,’ and further undermining of the building blocks of our Christian societ