The Bishops' Conference of Scotland (BCOS), under the trust of the Catholic National Endowment Trust, and based in

Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Airdrie (; sco, Airdrie; gd, An t-Àrd Ruigh) is a town in North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It lies on a plateau roughly 400 ft (130 m) above sea level, and is approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of Glasgow city centre. , the town had a ...

, is an

episcopal conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

for archbishops and bishops of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. The conference is primarily made up of the presiding bishops of Scotland's eight

diocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associa ...

s as well as bishops who have

retired Retirement is the withdrawal from one's position or occupation or from one's active working life. A person may also semi-retire by reducing work hours or workload. Many people choose to retire when they are elderly or incapable of doing their j ...

. , the president of the conference is Bishop

Hugh Gilbert Hugh Gilbert OSB (born 15 March 1952) is an English Catholic Benedictine monk who currently serves as the Bishop of Aberdeen. He previously served as the Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey, of which he is a member, also in Scotland. Life Early life On ...

of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen.

Agencies

The BCOS is organised into several agencies. These are: The Commission for Doctrine and Unity, The Communications and Press and Media Relations Office, The Commission for Catholic Education and Scottish Catholic Education Service, The Justice and Peace Commission, operating using the name Justice and Peace Scotland, The Heritage Commission as well as some other offices. The Conference is also a member of several international organisations including the

Council of European Bishops' Conferences The Council of the Bishops' Conferences of Europe ( la, Consilium Conferentiarum Episcoporum Europae;,CCEE) is a conference of the presidents of the 33 Roman Catholic episcopal conferences of Europe, the Archbishop of Luxembourg, the Archbishop ...

and the Commission of the Bishops' Conferences of the European Community. Before 1980, the organisation first registered with

Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government with responsibility for the regulation of charities in Scotland. OSCR is the independent regulator and registrar for more than 24,000 Scottish cha ...

and stated that its objective was to "promote, establish, develop, expand, contribute to, support and maintain facilities, projects, schemes and institutions of all kinds having a religious, educational or charitable purpose for the benefit of the community throughout Scotland; and in addition for the benefit of students for the priesthood at home and abroad including the maintenance of the following colleges, all now closed; (a) St. Mary's College, Blairs,

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

, Aberdeenshire; (b) St. Peter's College,

Cardross Cardross (Scottish Gaelic: ''Càrdainn Ros'') is a large village with a population of 2,194 (2011) in Scotland, on the north side of the Firth of Clyde, situated halfway between Dumbarton and Helensburgh. Cardross is in the historic geographical ...

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

; (c) St. Andrew's College, Drygrange, Melrose, Roxburghshire."Catholic National Endowment Trust, SC016650
from

OSCR The Scottish Charity Regulator (OSCR) is a non-ministerial department of the Scottish Government with responsibility for the regulation of charities in Scotland. OSCR is the independent regulator and registrar for more than 24,000 Scottish ch ...

, retrieved 15 June 2016

Ecumenical relations

The Roman Catholic Church in Scotland is a full member of

Action of Churches Together in Scotland Action may refer to: * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video game Film * Action film, a genre of film * ''Action'' (1921 film), a film by John Ford * ''Action'' (1980 fil ...

. The BCOS sends a representative to the Ecumenical Relations Committee of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Reformation of 1560, when it split from the Catholic Church ...

and is always invited to send a delegate to the

General Assembly of the Church of Scotland The General Assembly of the Church of Scotland is the sovereign and highest court of the Church of Scotland, and is thus the Church's governing body.''An Introduction to Practice and Procedure in the Church of Scotland'' by A. Gordon McGillivray, ...

Member bishops

*Archdiocese of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh ** Archbishop Leo Cushley *Archdiocese of Glasgow ** Archbishop Emeritus Mario Conti ** Archbishop William Nolan *Diocese of Motherwell ** Bishop Joseph Toal *Diocese of Paisley ** Bishop John Keenan *Diocese of Galloway ** Bishop Emeritus John Cunningham ** Bishop Emeritus Maurice Taylor *Diocese of Argyll and the Isles ** Bishop Brian McGee ** *Diocese of Aberdeen ** Bishop Hugh Gilbert ** Bishop Emeritus Peter Moran *Diocese of Dunkeld ** Bishop Stephen Robson

References

External links

Official website

GCatholic.org website {{Authority control

Bishops' Conference An episcopal conference, sometimes called a conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The first assembly of bishops to ...

Organisations based in North Lanarkshire Airdrie, North Lanarkshire Christian organisations based in Scotland 1878 establishments in Scotland 1878 in Christianity Religious organizations established in 1878

Agencies

Ecumenical relations

Member bishops

See also

References

External links