Church in society
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UK AND INTERNATIONAL ISSUES
The following information provides an overview to the
Church's views and involvement in a range of UK and
international issues. Most of the information provided
is in the form of archived press releases, since October
2004, issued by our Media Relations Unit, or reports
to the annual General
Assembly. You can download the documents on this
page in Word [.doc], rich text [.rtf] and text only
[.txt] formats. Issues under the same title are collated
into one download with the most recent response or action
listed first.
Anti-semitism
In a report to the 2005 Church of Scotland General Assembly,
the former Church and Nation Committee will recognised
"with anxiety" the continued evidence of anti-semitism
in Europe, including in Scotland and "condemned unreservedly"
such acts, and the attitudes which lead to them.
Download the full press release:
[top of page]
Asylum issues
You can read the background to the concerns of the former
Church and Nation Committee about Dungavel Immigration
Removal Centre in Scotland which has a policy of detaining
families. The committee argued that existance of the centre
was wrong and that it should cease to operate.
Dungavel Immigration Removal Centre
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In 2002 the Scottish Parliament’s
Cross-Party Group on Refugees and Asylum, including
the Scottish Churches Parliamentary officer, visited
the centre. |
The following recomendation was made: "We can see
no justification for the detention of children. The risk
of absconding does not outweigh the damage done to children
being denied their freedom."
Download the background to the
issue and the report on the visit in 2002:
[top of page]
Burma
In June 2005 Church of Scotland former Moderator the Very
Rev Dr Finlay Macdonald called for pressure to bear on
Burma as the democratically elected leader of the country,
Aung San Suu Kyi, continued to be held under house arrest
by the Burmese military dictatorship.
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As the Nobel Peace Prize winner was
awarded the freedom of Edinburgh, Dr Macdonald recalled
his visit with her during a trip to Burma as part
of his moderatorial year in 2002. |
The situation in Burma was also the subject of a deliverance
to the General Assembly 2004.
Download the full press release:
Download the 2004 Assembly report:
Download the report's discussion
notes:
[top of page]
Darfur
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In 2005 the General Assembly was told
by the former Church and Nation Committee that that
the international community had failed to address:
"the organised |
violence that has killed so many and driven countless
others from their land and livelihoods."
Download the full press release:
[top of page]
ID cards
The Church of Scotland has expressed its deep concerns
at the UK government’s identity card proposals.
The Kirk, which voted at its 2005 General Assembly to
ask the government to “reconsider” its plans,
has already made clear that it does not believe the case
for ID cards has been made.
Download the full press release:
[top of page]
Iraq
The former Church and Nation Committee report to the 2004
General Assembly on the War on Terror is available to
download below. The committee asked for the Assembly to
recognise that the war in Iraq took place without the
authority of the United Nations, that weapons of mass
destruction have never been found in Iraq and that thousands
of innocent people have lost their lives as a result of
the war.
Download the 2004 Assembly report:
Download the report's discussion
notes:
[top of page]
Make Poverty History and the G8
summit of 2005
In the summer of 2005 the G8 leaders of the world's richest
countries travelled to Scotland for their summit, held
in Gleneagles in Perthshire. The Church of Scotland was
very vocal in its call for the G8 to held end poverty
as part of the gobal Make Poverty History (MPH) movement.
A list of our press releases about this event are available
below.
The Right Rev David Lacy, Moderator of the General Assembly
of the Church of Scotland 2005, (far left) joins helps
lead the Make Poverty History rally in June 2005
Download the press releases about MPH and the G8:
[top of page]
Trade justice
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The Church of Scotland is a member
of the Trade Justice Movement which aims to achieve
something extraordinary: a collective |
statement from huge numbers of people in the UK who believe
in making world trade work for the whole world.
Download the press releases on trade justice:
[top of page]
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