Scotland: “Saint Margaret’s Declaration” signed for “mutual recognition of Christian churches”

Named after Saint Margaret, the Scottish queen who lived between 1045 and 1093, the Catholic Archbishop of Edinburgh, Leo Kushale, Dr. Declaration signed today by Ian Greenshields, Moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, and Princess Anne. Dunfermline Abbey, where the Queen herself rests, along with nine other Scottish monarchs. The ceremony was attended by over three hundred guests from the local community and civil society. In the “St Margaret’s Declaration”, the fruit of years of ecumenical work, the Catholic Church and the Church of Scotland “express their mutual recognition as Christian Churches, made up of brothers and sisters in Christ, manifest their friendship and mutual respect”. others and are committed to cooperating in proclaiming the kingdom of God”. In the same statement, Catholic and Presbyterian leaders “acknowledged the wounds that our forefathers inflicted on each other in the past and ask for forgiveness for them”. “We also believe that, even in recent times, much could have been said among us with more kindness and more charity to promote forgiveness and friendship among the Christians of our land could be done with”, Catholic leaders and Presbyterians wrote in the statement which also recognized that some divisions between the two churches remain and more work is needed for reconciliation.