Cardinal Asks Councils Not to Shun Jesus on his Birthday
Sept 10, 2004
Cardinal Keith O’Brien will this week court controversy by asking Scotland’s local authorities to place nativity scenes in town centres to ensure that bargain-hunting shoppers cannot avoid the real reason for the festive season.
(Sun 15 Aug 2004) One of Scotland’s religious leaders is to attempt to reverse the secular tide by urging councils to "re-christianise" Christmas.
Cardinal Keith O’Brien will this week court controversy by asking Scotland’s local authorities to place nativity scenes in town centres to ensure that bargain-hunting shoppers cannot avoid the real reason for the festive season.
The head of Scotland’s Catholic Church also wants civic Christmas cards to display an explicitly Christian message, rather than simply "Season’s Greetings," to remind the public about the Christmas story.
The Cardinal says his call is part of a wider attempt to draw attention to Scotland’s Christian heritage, which he believes is becoming increasingly overshadowed.
But a row over his actions was already under way last night with critics arguing that church leaders could no longer claim to have a prominent role in a largely secular Scotland.
In his letter to councils, the Cardinal will point out that more than 600,000 Scots still attend church on a weekly basis - offering proof that Scotland remains a predominantly-Christian country. He insists their voice should be heard during Christianity’s most popular festival.
Speaking to Scotland on Sunday, O’Brien said: "This is just about saying to councils that for all the thousands of pounds that are spent on trees and lights, perhaps a small amount could go on things like a Nativity scene."
While respecting other faiths, he added, Scotland should be "proud" of celebrating its Christian heritage.
"This is a country that has had Christianity since 397AD when St Ninian came to Galloway. Nobody can change that and it doesn't matter how many people come into the country. They are, of course, most welcome to come here, but we are a Christian country.
"It's not being bigoted," O’Brien insisted. "When we go to other countries it is made clear to us that we are not going into a Christian country and some are quite strict about where you can put churches and so on.
"We are more tolerant in this country.
But the incomers to our country are coming to a Christian country. We have kept that tradition for 1,600 years and we should be proud of it, he added.
But secularists were quick to attack the cardinal’s plan yesterday and said he was wrong to assert that Scotland remains a Christian country.
"It isn’t," said Alan Henness, convener of the Humanist Society of Scotland. "You can’t call it a Christian country. It might have been at one time but Scots are moving away from that because they don’t like religion and they see it has lost relevance. It means very little to the majority."
Henness also poured scorn on the idea of councils paying for public nativity scenes. "The state-funded councils should not be seen to promote religion and they should be neutral. I don’t think it is the place of such organisations to give a privilege to religion,"
Some councils already display a nativity scene in public, such as Glasgow, where a crib is placed in George Square every year.
A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: "Glasgow has had a nativity scene for many, many years and it is probably one of the most famous in Scotland." The message on the official Christmas card, however, usually reflects Glasgow's status as a great multicultural city, the spokesman said. "We dropped saying Happy Christmas some time ago. It is now Season's Greetings."
Last year, a nativity scene was put on display by the city council in Edinburgh for the first time and civic leaders are in favour of a religious Christmas card message. Council leader Donald Anderson said: "I think that Merry Christmas is an appropriate message to use at that time of year."
Aberdeen City Council has, until now, simply had a Christmas tree, rather than any religious imagery. "It will be up to the members to decide what to do," a spokesman said.
But the Cardinal received support from the Muslim Association of Britain. Osama Saeed, the Scottish spokesman said that Muslims would have sympathy for the Cardinal’s attempts to reassert the importance of religion.
"I don't think trying to emphasise that is a bad thing," Saeed said.
"What is happening at the moment is that secularism is seen as a type of neutral position when it is actually almost a state religion itself which has sneakily-established itself through the back door. I think it is healthy to have a debate about that."
Cardinal Asks Councils Not to Shun Jesus on his Birthday