Deputy Director of the Catholic Union, James Somerville-Meikle, writes:
The relationship between religion and politics has been in the spotlight again this week as Kate Forbes’ Christian beliefs have dominated coverage of the SNP leadership contest. While many in the media have attempted to paint Ms Forbes’ faith as a problem, a recent poll has found that she is the frontrunner amongst SNP members to succeed Nicola Sturgeon – more proof, if it were needed, that Twitter is not necessarily reflective of public opinion. Faith is important to the lives of many of our politicians as well as to the national life of our country. I was reminded of this by two Catholic services I had the privilege of attending this week. The Ash Wednesday Mass in Parliament brought together a large number of MPs, peers, and staff to “repent and believe the Gospel” at the start of Lent. On Friday morning, civic and religious leaders gathered for an extremely moving prayer service at the Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in London, bringing hope and light at the end of twelve long months of war. As Kate Forbes said, we are moving into “very dangerous days” if faith has no place in our politics. In many ways, faith seems needed more than ever.