Coronavirus Covid-19: Scotland, a workgroup of the Catholic Church to “meet the long-term pastoral needs of the community”

(London) “Hope and growth after a period of desperation”. These are the words spoken by the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland in the release, in which it announced it has set up a new Covid-19 workgroup in charge of “understanding how to best meet the long-term pastoral needs of the Catholic community during the pandemic”. The newly-created workgroup will be led by the bishop of Argyll and The Isles, Brian McGee, and will try to “prepare, in a form of pastoral care that may be safe within the context of Covid, the Catholic parishes and dioceses if the restrictions due to the virus are extended”. In the Bishops’ Conference’s release, bishop McGee defines as “outstanding and extremely encouraging” the way priests and parishioners all over Scotland instantly reacted “when our public Masses stopped and our churches were closed down almost without notice”. He also takes stock of the harsh reality that, “while it will be wonderful when our churches can reopen and we can resume our community life, the life of the parishes will not be able to get back to normal quickly, until a vaccine or a treatment are found”. It is just because of this, the Scottish bishops explain, that the new Covid-19 workgroup has been set up. “To find and advertise materials and resources that may help the dioceses and parishes tackle the new challenge safely”.
Valentina Bombelli