Is There An End in Sight to Centuries-Old Sectarian Divisions in Scotland?

Catholic News Agency ^ | 2/17/15

[marshmallow]

Vatican City, Feb 17, 2015 / 02:01 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Following an ecumenical meeting with Pope Francis on Monday, the moderator of the Church of Scotland said the gathering was significant, and could signal the end of its tensions with the Catholic Church.

The Church of Scotland is an ecclesial community in the Calvinist and Presbyterian tradition. As its moderator, John Chalmers serves as the ecclesial community's official representative.

“Scotland too has suffered in the past from a sectarian divide. Meetings like today marking our two churches and talking to each other on a very significant level means almost the end of that sectarian divide,” Chalmers told CNA Feb. 16, following his meeting with the Pope.

Chalmers said that his visit with the Pope was “very significant” in terms of ecumenical relations between the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church.

“The fact that Pope Francis was able to meet with me this morning and we were able to share the sense of our concern for all people of faith in Scotland” was “very important,” he added.

He added that “the Catholic community in Scotland have been through a difficult journey in the last few years and the Church of Scotland shares a real pastoral concern for the people of the Catholic community in Scotland.”

In 2013, Cardinal Keith O'Brien resigned from his post as Archbishop of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh, the most prominent see in Scotland, amid allegations that he made inappropriate sexual advances toward three priests in the 1980s. The cardinal later admitted the allegations to be true.

Despite this challenge to Christians in Scotland, Chalmers said that “I think what we need to see going into the future, is we need to embrace those things over which we are in total agreement. And there are big things:............

[Alex Murphy]

Following an ecumenical meeting with Pope Francis on Monday, the moderator of the Church of Scotland said the gathering was significant, and could signal the end of its tensions with the Catholic Church. The Church of Scotland is an ecclesial community in the Calvinist and Presbyterian tradition.

PFL

[ecomcon]

Agreement centering on:

And there are big things: the radicalization of people's minds, the need for finding peace across the world, especially in the middle East, and climate change – huge issue for all of our churches. And I hope we will be able to unite across religious bodies in some common purpose facing some of our common foes.”

Sigh.