Safeguarding Updates

11^th November 2025

ANNUAL SAFEGUARDING MESSAGE FROM BISHOP BRIAN McGEE
READ DURING ALL MASSES OVER THE WEEKEND OF 15^th & 16^th NOVEMBER 2025

Dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Last Saturday I participated in our Church’s annual Safeguarding Conference in Glasgow. Being the Holy Year, the theme was HOPE.

We must never deny that abuse has and does occur within the Church, this is the painful truth, but it is also true that most abuse occurs elsewhere. Shaped by the Gospel we must be ready to accompany all who are wounded by abuse, regardless of where it has occurred.

The Church is not merely an institution, a building or group of people but the Body of Christ. The Holy Spirit lives within the Church. The Spirit lives within you personally but also among you collectively as a Christian community. In this way your parish – priest and lay faithful – is a temple of the Spirit.

Jesus revealed God’s mercy and healing especially for those most in need. Jesus continues his ministry through the Church, the Body of Christ. Therefore, God’s healing and renewal should flow from every Christian community to all who, for any reason, are in need.

I invite each person, parish and our diocese to prayerfully discern the extent to which we have allowed the Gospel to shape us. To grow we must identify when we are indeed instruments of God’s hope and give gratitude for God’s grace. I also thank you for those occasions and the difference you have made to those who suffer. However, we must also identify when we fail and seek the grace of conversion.

It is a privilege to be “God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you” (1 Cor 3:16) but it also brings responsibilities. Let us increasingly become pilgrims and sharers of hope.

I pray that the hope of Christ will resound in all our hearts.

Right Reverend Brian McGee

Bishop of Argyll and the Isles

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