Scottish Catholic Church condemns violent, abusive, coercive conversion practices but fears government proposals go too far

The Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, in its consultation response to the Scottish Government’s ‘Ending Conversion Practices in Scotland’ consultation, has condemned violent, abusive and coercive practices and commended the Scottish Government in its “commitment to protect vulnerable people”.

The Bishops’ Conference, however, states that it has “significant concerns” about the government’s proposals as they appear to go “far beyond what is necessary to protect the vulnerable” and which will “negatively and unjustly” impact the “everyday work of churches and everyday parenting.”

The bishops raise concerns about the lack of clarity in the proposals which they state “makes it impossible for faith leaders, parents, teachers, medical professionals, among others to know what is criminalised and what is not”.

The bishops state that they are “extremely concerned that the vaguely defined proposals will result in the criminalisation of the mainstream pastoral work of churches” and say that they are “deeply troubled” by the inclusion of celibacy as a ‘suppressive practice’ which could be criminalised under the proposals.

The response also raises concerns around criminalising “loving parents who provide guidance to their children on matters of sexuality and gender, including those parents who do not affirm their child’s chosen gender identity and who discourage their child’s expression of that identity”. The proposals, say the bishops, “will criminalise mainstream, loving parenting, including parents who seek to control how their child ‘presents’ in terms of, say, clothes, make-up, and hairstyle or imposing restrictions on where their child might go and whom they might see.”