This charity is a Christian charity of last resort for children from the streets and shanty-towns of Colombia. St Stephen’s are holding a dance to raise money for this charity.
18th April 2026
1900-midnight
St Stephen’s Church Hall
Price: £10
Dress code: Smart casual.
All proceeds go to ‘Let the Children Live’.
Further details will follow.
My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,
On this fourth Sunday of Lent, I write to you, on behalf of all the Bishops of Scotland, to thank you for your continued support of the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund, our Church’s own relief and development agency.
In the year that follows SCIAF’s 6oth Anniversary, we give thanks for the countless lives that have been transformed through your prayers and generosity. For six decades, the Catholic community in Scotland has shown love in action –reaching out to our sisters and brothers living in the world’s poorest places and showing that faith truly changes lives.
This Lent, SCIAF’s WEE BOX Appeal focuses on Ethiopia, a country that has long worked hard to build a better future. Families have been growing stronger, children have been going to school, and communities have been full of hope. Butnow, much of that progress is being undone. Years of conflict, drought, flooding, and cuts to aid have left millions struggling to survive.
In the northern region of Tigray, the Church has been a steadfast presence. Even when war and violence drove others away, I can personally witness that the Church remained, serving those in need. As Fr Abraha from SCIAF’s local partner, the Adigrat Diocesan Catholic Secretariat (ADCS), explained:
“The Church is a voice for the voiceless. When everyone else left, the Church stayed: to serve, to speak, and to give people courage. We serve all human beings, whatever their faith. With no water there is no life – yet, little by little, we are helping people survive.”
Through your generous support, SCIAF and its Church partners are providing clean water, food, and shelter, and helping families rebuild their lives – restoring not justlivelihoods but also hope. Fr Abraha went on to say:
“I appreciate, and would like to thank, the Catholics of Scotland for what you have all done for us, for our people, and our community. We are very grateful for what you have done and what you will do in the future. The Scottish people are our pillars – and today, you are still helping us.”
In his apostolic exhortation Dilexi Te, Pope Leo XIV reminds us that “love for the poor, whatever the form their povertymay take, is the evangelical hallmark of a Church faithful to the heart of God.”
This Lent, we are called once more to live out that love: through prayer, fasting, and giving.
Your support to SCIAF’s WEE BOX Appeal can help families in Ethiopia – and across the world – access clean water, grow food, and find stability and peace. From Scotland to Ethiopia, your compassion keeps both water, and hope, flowing.
Thank you for your continued generosity and for the love you show to our sisters and brothers around the world. Together, as one family of faith, we can make a difference and build a world where all God’s children can flourish.
May God bless you and your families this holy season of Lent.
Bishop Brian McGee
Bishop President of SCIAF
On behalf of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland
Sunday 1st March 2026
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
Scotland stands at a moment of profound moral consequence. In the coming weeks, the Scottish Parliament will cast its final vote on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill; legislation that would, for the first time in our nation’s history, permit physicianassisted suicide. As your shepherds, entrusted with the care of souls and the protection of human dignity, we write to you with deep concern.
True compassion is not found in hastening death but in walking with those who suffer, ensuring they receive the medical, emotional, and spiritual care that affirms their inherent worth. Every person—regardless of age, illness, disability, or circumstance—is a gift from God. There is no such thing as a life without value. Our task as a society is not to eliminate suffering by eliminating the sufferer, but to surround every individual with love, support, and dignity until their natural end.
Over recent months, several Members of the Scottish Parliament who once supported the proposal have now either withdrawn, or are seriously considering withdrawing, their backing, recognising that the risks embedded within it are too grave to ignore. Their change of heart reflects a dawning awareness that coercion, especially the subtle, hidden coercion experienced by the most vulnerable, including the elderly, the sick, the disabled and those living with domestic abuse, cannot be reliably detected, let alone prevented.
Key protections that should form the very foundation of such legislation, however flawed the principle may be, have been removed or rejected. Proposals for mandatory training for doctors to recognise coercive control were voted down by the Parliament Health and Social Care Committee. Measures ensuring that patients are offered proper palliative and social care before considering assisted suicide were dismissed. An opt-out for hospices and care homes who object to assisted suicide was also rejected. Even the conscience rights of healthcare workers remain uncertain. As a result, MSPs are being asked to vote on a Bill that is incomplete and reliant on future intervention from Westminster—an arrangement that several parliamentarians have already described as unworkable and irresponsible.
Experience from abroad also offers a sober warning. In countries where assisted suicide has been introduced, narrow criteria have widened over time, placing ever more people at risk—not because of unbearable physical suffering, but because they feel abandoned, isolated, or burdensome. We must not allow such a trajectory to take root here in Scotland.
We therefore urge you, the Catholic faithful of Scotland, to act. Please contact your MSPs and respectfully ask them to oppose this legislation. Make your voice heard in defence of those who may not be able to speak for themselves. Resources to assist you— including Care Not Killing’s online email tool—are available and we invite you to use them prayerfully and thoughtfully.
Let us also hold in prayer all those approaching the end of life, all who care for them, and all charged with shaping the laws of our land. May the Holy Spirit grant our nation the wisdom to choose the path of life, compassion, and genuine human solidarity.
Yours devotedly in Christ,
+ John Keenan, President, Bishop of Paisley
+ Brian McGee, Vice-President, Bishop of Argyll and the Isles
+ Andrew McKenzie, Episcopal Secretary, Bishop of Dunkeld
+ Leo Cushley, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh
+ William Nolan, Archbishop of Glasgow
+ Joseph Toal, Bishop of Motherwell
+ Hugh Gilbert, Bishop of Aberdeen
+ Francis Dougan, Bishop of Galloway
St Mary & St Joseph Parish Lenten Mass at 8.20.a.m. each morning throughout Lent will be celebrated in St Mary’s Church, Duntocher.
The safeguarding of children and vulnerable adults who participate in the life of the Church is a top priority for the Archdiocese. For this reason, our volunteers are trained in Safeguarding before they undertake any work with children and/or protected adults. Each Diocese has specially trained individuals who provide this training.
The Archdiocese has around 2,500 Tier 1 and Tier 2 volunteers, along with many others who may require training in the future. This is an ever-evolving situation, with new volunteers coming on board, all of whom must complete training before beginning their parish role.
These volunteers are essential to the life of each parish. We are therefore looking to expand our cohort of trainers and hope to recruit volunteers to join our training team to help deliver courses throughout the year.
Training and support are provided to all volunteer trainers. A range of courses is delivered, both in person and via Zoom. We urgently require volunteers with training experience, either in their current or previous roles. If you have these skills and experience and are interested, please contact the Director of Safeguarding, Caterina O’Connor (DSA), on 07539 893396 or by email at caterina.oconnor@rcag.org.uk for an informal chat.
Care Not Killing have asked for urgent support before the 3rd reading of the Scottish Bill on assisted suicide on the 17th of March.
If you’d like to contact your MSP regarding this, you can use the tool below.
During Lent, there will be Stations of the Cross followed by the opportunity for Confession in each parish:
St Patrick’s: Mondays at 6.00pm (from 23rd February)
St Stephen’s: Tuesdays at 6.00pm (from 24th February)
Come and spend time with Jesus this Lent through prayer and adoration in St Margaret’s on Wednesdays from 7-8pm.
This is a chance to stop and rest, a time of prayer to help you prepare for Easter, making use of different styles of prayer with exposition of the Blessed Sacrament.
The prayer will focus on the Gospel for the coming Sunday.
The dates are Wednesday 25th February and 4th, 11th, 18th and 25th of March.
You will be very welcome on any or all of these dates.
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