Nicola Sturgeon The decision to invite Scotland’s First Minister of State to speak at a major lecture focusing on Catholic education was defended by a native bishop following criticism from pro-life advocates.
The 2019 Cardinal Winning Lecture is held after Catholic education week each year, however this year marks the Centenary of the Catholic Education Scotland Act 1918 which saw the Catholic Church giving the government control of the state school system.
There has been opposition to Nicola Sturgeon speaking at the event on March 3 at the University of Glasgow, particularly because of the current government’s agreement to facilitate Northern Irish women having abortions in Scotland.
Bishop John Keenan of Paisley Diocese described her anticipated attendance as “a huge milestone in this years’ celebrations” on his Facebook page.
However, the news was received with some negativity online, with one person saying: “Oh right the same First Minster who is to offer free abortions to women from Northern Ireland. Mmmh with all due respect Bishop John, I don’t see this as a ‘milestone’.”
Disgrace
Another commenter said: “This is an absolute disgrace. Cardinal Winning lecture indeed. Free abortions for Irish women ring any bells? Just when you think things cannot get any worse…”
However Bishop John countered the comments by saying that it wasn’t the Catholic Church of Scotland that had invited her, but the university itself.
He added that he understood the “pro-life anxiety around it”.
“I challenged this at the time, as you know, considering it to be both immoral in itself and an awful and unwarranted political meddling of the Scottish and UK governments in the legitimate autonomy of a devolved region of the UK.”
The bishop added that despite this he thought it was appropriate that “in the year that marks the centenary of the Education Scotland Act and the long, fruitful partnership between the Church and the State in the provision of Catholic education for our citizens, that a current First Minister of State of Scotland be invited to make this address in some tribute to the enormous contribution Catholics have made to Scottish society over the century, and continue to make even today”.