Parish bulletin update for Sunday

Here is our round-up of forthcoming events for parish bulletins.

Carlo Acutis relics
The relics of Carlo Acutis visit the Archdiocese from 13-15 September 2025, by which time he will be a saint of the Church! Schedule for St Mary's Cathedral: Sat 13 Sep - 6:00pm Vigil Mass (Cathedral open until 8:00pm for veneration); Sun 14 Sep - Midday Mass; Mon 15 Sep - 12:45pm Mass for Schools.

Day for Altar Servers
The Archdiocesan Day for Altar Servers, our Guild of St Cuthbert, is on Saturday 13 September 2025, 11:00am-3:00pm at The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh. This year we will be in the presence of a saint - the relics of Carlo Acutis will be there! This is a day of faith, formation and fun, and concludes with Mass celebrated by Archbishop Leo. Register with Fr [priest name here].

Catholic Conversations for Women
Women who are recent converts, those considering Catholicism, and those desirous of faith-focused discussion all warmly welcome to this event. It takes place at St Andrew’s Parish rooms, 77 Belford Rd, EH4 3DS, on Saturday 30 August, 3:45pm-4:45pm. Optional Holy Hour with Adoration and chanted Vespers from 5:10pm with the Religious Sisters of Mercy. Register at edinburgh@almamercy.org or call 0131 343 3380.

Season of Creation Conference
The Bishops’ Office for Care of Creation invites you to its National Season of Creation Conference on Saturday 6 September 2025 in St. Margaret’s, Raploch, 10:00am – 3:00pm. Special guest is Lorna Gold, the Executive Director of the global Laudato Si Movement. Registration and details at www.bcos.org.uk/scc25

National Pilgrimage to Whithorn
The National Pilgrimage to Whithorn in honour of St Ninian will take place on Sunday 31 August. Mass at St Ninian’s Cave will be celebrated at 4:00pm by Bishop Frank Dougan. Event information is in the news section at https://rcdg.org.uk/

Fife Pilgrim Way
Walk in the footsteps of medieval pilgrims on the Fife Pilgrim Way over six stages each Saturday, beginning 30 August. Meet at 11:00am at the Fife Pilgrim Way information board, Battery Rd, North Queensferry, walking to St Margaret's, Dunfermline. A great way to mark the Jubilee Year. No registration required. Queries to Deacon Pat Carrigan at obl.columba@gmail.com

Holy Year Talk - Dysart Carmel
A series of Holy Year talks take place on the last Sunday of each month at 4:30pm at the Carmelite Convent, Hot Pot Wynd, Dysart, KY1 2TF. The one-hour event includes evening prayer, Eucharistic Adoration and has been organised by the Fife Deanery. Next one is Sunday 31 August. All welcome.

Venerable Margaret Sinclair
The Centenary Pilgrimage to pray for the Beatification of Venerable Margaret Sinclair will take place on Sunday 21 September from 12:30pm-5:30pm at St Patrick's Church, Cowgate, Edinburgh, EH1 1NA. 12:30pm-1:30pm. Refreshments & sale of candles/goods; 1:30pm-2:30pm Holy Hour; 3:00pm-4:00pm Reflection; 4:30pm Holy Mass concelebrated with Archbishop Leo. Confessions available all day.

National Pilgrimage to Carfin
The National Pilgrimage takes place at Carfin Grotto on Sunday 7 September at 3:00pm. Archbishop Leo will be the principal celebrant and preacher. On this day Blessed Carlo Acutis and Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati, will be canonised so it is an ideal day for Catholics in Scotland to come together to celebrate.

National Youth Pilgrimage to Perth
This takes place on Saturday 20 September, meeting at St Mary's Monastery, Kinnoull, at 12:30pm. A full day of activities includes historic site visits, talks, and Holy Mass with Archbishop Cushley. If you wish to join fellow pilgrims (18+) from the Archdiocese travelling by train to Perth from Stirling, Falkirk and Edinburgh please contact Sr Isabelle Dufaux FSO at youth.office@staned.org.uk

Study Catholic Theology in Edinburgh
Registration is now open for the MA in Applied Catholic Theology at St Mary's University Scottish campus in Edinburgh. Details at bit.ly/catholictheology. Queries: stephen.dolan@stmarys.ac.uk

Season of creation online talks
The national Care of Creation Office has organised a series of Zoom sessions with the theme Peace with Creation, 7:00pm-9:00pm each Thursday, beginning on 4 September. Each week features a guest speaker. Register at https://forms.gle/JXUWYtJjid1zeqSQ9.

Obtain the Holy Year Plenary Indulgence

We're encouraging all Catholics in the Archdiocese to obtain a plenary indulgence in this Holy Year 2025.

Obtaining a Plenary Indulgence this Holy Year

A plenary indulgence is a grace granted by the Church which cleanses our soul and helps us to grow closer to God.

When we sin, we not only damage our relationship with God, we create a need for healing and repair in our souls. Through Reconciliation, God forgives our sins, but the effects of our sins may still need to be addressed.

Indulgences are a beautiful practice combining prayer, good works and spiritual renewal, to help repair that damage.

You can gain an Indulgence by making a pilgrimage or visit:

Within our Diocese, at one of two locations:

To Rome: to one of the four Papal Basilicas and their Holy Doors.

Elsewhere in the World: Jubilee Shrines in Italy and the Holy Land.

By performing works of mercy, formation and penance:

Extraordinary Works of Mercy include:

Diocesan or parish formation:

Fasting from futile distractions, abstaining for at least one day a week from:

If someone isn't able to do these things due to sickness or other serious reasons then, united in spirit with the faithful taking part in person, they may recite the Our Father, Apostles Creed and Jubilee Prayer, offering the sufferings or hardships of their lives.

What Must I Do?

Normally, only one plenary indulgence can be obtained per day. However, the members of the faithful who have carried out an act of charity on behalf of the souls in purgatory, if they receive Holy Communion a second time that day, can obtain the plenary indulgence twice on the same day (this applies only to the deceased).

A single sacramental confession is sufficient for several plenary indulgences, but frequent sacramental confession is encouraged in order to obtain the grace of deeper conversion and purity of heart. For each plenary indulgence that is sought, however, a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father are required.

Tap here to download this information in a printable A4 poster.

Requiscat in pace: Fr Tony Quinlan OMI

Please pray for the repose of the soul of Fr Tony Quinlan OMI, who died peacefully on Saturday (16 August), at St James' Hospital, Dublin, surrounded by his loving family.

Fr Tony is warmly remembered in the Archdicoese, having served at St John Ogilvie's in Wester Hailes for 20 years as a member of the Oblates of Mary Immaculate.

His funeral Mass is at midday on Wednesday 20 August at the Church of Mary Immaculate, Dublin, and will be streamed live here.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, let perpetual light shine upon him, may he rest in peace. Amen.

Season of Creation events

Dr Lorna Gold, Executive Director of the Laudato Si' Movement, is the keynote speaker at the Season of Creation Conference 2025.

It takes place at St Margaret's Church, Drip Road, Stirling on Saturday 6 September 2025, from 10am-3pm.

Register here for this free event.

Originally from Scotland, Lorna Gold has been an active leader for years in Catholic work on integral ecology and creation care.

Workshops and Q&As will be held with the Laudato Si Animators Scotland network, Justice & Peace Scotland, and SCIAF.

There will also be the chance to hear from the Care of Creation group from St Ninian’s & St Cuthbert’s Parish, Hamilton, on ideas for living out Laudato Si’ locally in your own parish communities. Archbishop Bill Nolan of Glasgow Archdiocese will attend.

Zoom sessions

The national Care of Creation Office, along with other organisations, has organised a series of zoom sessions to explore different dimensions of Peace with Creation.

The sessions are from 7.00-9.00pm each Thursday, beginning on 4 September, and include prayer, a presentation from a guest speaker and Q&A. Register here.

Readings for Mass

Readings for the Mass for the Care of Creation according to the new Lectionary can be found here.

The annual period of prayer for our common home begins on September 1, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation, and runs until October 4, the feast of St Francis of Assisi.

‘I loved being an altar server’

Ahead of our Altar Servers' Day (Saturday 13 September), we asked Fr Robert Taylor, of St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh, to share his memories of being an altar boy.

The below article appears in our Newsletter for Altar Servers available to download here (hard copies being sent to all parishes soon).

***

"I loved being an altar server.

It is a real privilege to be so close to the incredible moments of the Mass.

I was an altar server at Our Lady & St Andrew’s in Galashiels. That’s me on the left.
With the late Monsignor Tony Duffy during Mass in Lourdes. Right, celebrating Mass at the Cathedral.

As an altar server, you are a member of an important team serving God and the parish community.

Here are my tips on being a good altar server:

Here’s me in Lourdes, France, in 2002. Great memories!

A big thanks to all servers in the Archdiocese for serving at their parish and for being a member of the Guild of St Cuthbert."

The Altar Servers’ Day is on Saturday 13 Sep 2025, 11:00am to 3:00pm at The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB. Parents should register their child(ren) by contacting their parish priest. Our newsletter for Altar Servers will be sent to all parishes and is available to download here.

Join us at our update meeting for parishes

Join Archbishop Cushley, Monsignor Jeremy Milne and Curia team members at our update meeting for parishes

The event takes place on Wednesday 24 September at The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh, EH9 1BB, and you can choose the time slot that suits you:

We'll cover the following topics:

Who is this event for?

Parish Priests, Parish Administrators, Assistant Priests together with representatives from Parish Finance or Fabric Committees and those involved in Health and Safety compliance for parishes.

Speakers

Graham Scrimgeour, Director of Finance, will provide an overview of the 2024 accounts and audit findings and other finance matters, including banking, electronic giving and upgrades to OPAS, together with news on IT developments to support parishes.

Lorcan Mooney, Director of Property, will then provide an overview of the role of the Archdiocese property department, the parish fabric committee and other parish property requirements.

Gail Dyer, Health and Safety Consultant with WorkNest, will provide an overview on health and safety matters with a particular emphasis on the importance of compliance, and the SafetyNest portal, then all speakers will take questions from the audience.

This is an opportunity not only to hear from our speakers and ask questions but to meet finance and fabric committee members from other parishes as well as Curia team members, Archbishop Cushley and Monsignor Jeremy Milne, Moderator of the Curia.

Parish Update Meeting 3:00pm to 5:00pm and 7:00pm to 9:00pm on Wednesday 24 September 2025 in the Islay Hall at The Gillis Centre, 100 Strathearn Road, Edinburgh EH9 1BB. Free parking on site. Join us thirty minutes before the meeting for tea/coffee and a chat. 

Relics of Carlo Acutis to visit Edinburgh

The relics of Blessed, and soon to be Saint, Carlo Acutis will be at St Mary's Cathedral, Edinburgh, from Saturday 13 September to Monday 15 September 2025.

Pope Leo XIV declared Carlo Acutis to be canonised on Sunday 7 September 2025.

Carlo Acutis is known for his love of the Eucharist and for his use of technology in sharing religious content, particularly on eucharistic miracles. He died from leukemia aged 15 in Monza, Italy, and will become the first millennial saint.

Saturday 13 September

6:00pm: Vigil Mass in presence of the relic (Cathedral open until 8:00pm for veneration);

Sunday 14 September

12:00pm: Mass in presence of the relic, celebrated by Archbishop Leo Cushley.

Monday 15 September

12:45pm: Mass for Schools in presence of the relic (all welcome)

On Saturday 13 September the relics will be present for our annual Altar Servers' Day at The Gillis Centre in Edinburgh. This event is for Altar Servers and volunteers only. If you have a child who is an altar server in the Diocese, please register fo this event with your parish priest. From 9-13 September, the relics will visit the Diocese of Paisley.

Archbishop Leo said: “It is a real blessing for our Archdiocese to welcome the relics of Carlo Acutis.

"The late Pope Benedict, when visiting Britain in 2010, called on our young people to be the "Saints of the 21st Century”.

"Carlo’s life is a powerful witness to precisely that, the beauty of holiness in our time, and a reminder that sanctity is possible at every age.

"I pray that his visit will especially inspire our young people to deepen their love for the living Lord in the Eucharist and to follow Him with renewed faith and courage."

Let Peers know you oppose assisted suicide

Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill will be debated in the House of Lords in early Autumn.

The Bill, which narrowly passed through the House of Commons by 314-291 votes, is expected to return to Parliament on 12 September 2025, with further scrutiny and debate in the days which follow.

If it is to become law, the Bill must be supported by the Lords.

The House of Lords would normally be expected to support a Bill where there is a solid majority in the Commons.

However, because the Commons majority for this Bill is just 23 votes and, crucially, the Bill is not a Government Bill, it is still possible that the Lords could reject it.

What to do

This document lists Peers from Scotland with contact email addresses.

You can find at least one who has a connection to your area (their former constituency is listed in the third column) and either write to them or send them an email.

Some Peers use a generic ‘contactholmember@parliament.uk’ address so remember to state in the subject line which Peer the correspondence is for.

You can also write to a Peer using the following address:

[Insert Name of Peer e.g. Rt Hon Lord/Baroness….], House of Lords, London, SW1A 0PW

Anthony Horan, of the Catholic Parliamentary Office, said: "Whilst emails are easier, written correspondence is much more effective as it is more likely to be noticed by politicians.

"Whichever method of communication you choose, please remember to be respectful and courteous, and please remember to include your postal address."

He added: "There are many defects in the Leadbeater Bill and this excellent Care Not Killing resource lists 26 of them.

"You can also check out this excellent briefing by SPUC and use these resources to formulate your letter/email. Please also remember to share your own concerns and personal stories.

"Thank you for your continued support on this very important issue."

Polish veteran (102) attends Mass in Edinburgh

A 102-year-old veteran believed to be the last surviving member of a Polish army division formed in Scotland during the Second World War has attended a mass in Edinburgh.

Eugeniusz Niedzielski, 102, attended St Ninian and St Triduana Church in Restalrig on Sunday as part of a visit to Scotland organised by the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans, writes STV News.

The veteran arrived at the church in a London black cab, and was met by members of a Polish scout group who had travelled to the capital to renovate Polish gravestones.

Mr Niedzielski posed for photographs and chatted to various members of the Polish community in the church hall before attending the mass.

Speaking with the PA Media news agency after mass, the veteran said: “After 84 years I’ve come to Scotland, to visit places, and (the Taxi Charity for Military Veterans) takes me all round the places.

“What I’ve seen so far, I’ve enjoyed it, I’ve seen what I wanted.

“It brings memories back to me: the places, the monuments and everything.”

Mr Niedzielski was born in Poland, and was deported to a work camp in September 1939 by the Russians.

Released in 1942, Mr Niedzielski then travelled to the UK where he joined the new Polish army in Duns, in the Borders, and placed under British command.

He fought on the western front in 1944,  before moving on to the Dutch Border and helping liberate the city of Breda as part of Operation Pheasant.

After the war, in 1947, Mr Niedzielski came to the UK and enlisted in the Polish resettlement corps, and he remained in England and lives near London to this day.

Mr Niedzielski was also asked why, 80 years on, it was still important that we continue to remember the events of the Second World War.

“Because there’s no one to tell the tales of what’s been going on in the last war, as a soldier’s experience and everything,” he said.

“I’m still alive, 102, and probably I’ll be missed when I go,” he added with a smile.

FESTIVAL MASS: Archbishop's Homily

Homily of Archbishop Leo Cushley of St Andrews & Edinburgh, Festival Mass, St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Sunday 10 August 2025. (All images Ieva Marija Photography).

***

My dear friends,

A warm welcome to our Cathedral on the happy occasion of the Edinburgh International Festival.

In your name, I’m pleased to give a very warm welcome to Councillor Robert Aldridge, the Right Honourable Lord Lieutenant and Lord Provost of the City of Edinburgh, our city’s bailiffs and councillors, distinguished representatives of the City’s Consular Corps, representatives of the Knights and Dames of the Order of Malta, of the Holy Sepulchre and of St John, the city’s High Constables.

Festival Mass.

I’m also pleased to welcome Bishop John Armes of Edinburgh and the Reverend Scott Rennie of the High Kirk of St Giles, and many other distinguished guests and friends. Thank you for honouring us with your presence today.

In A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking finishes this famous book in a very interesting way.

After taking us on a tour of time and space, and our wonderful but also somewhat incomplete knowledge of both, he ends by talking about knowing the mind of God, and how we poor human beings might, one day, actually come to know the mind of God.

What he appears to be getting at is, if we are one day able to unify our theory about space and our theory about time, and if we can find a way to observe and verify and reconcile our views about space and about time, we will have arrived at a unified theory of everything.

Deacon Matthew McCafferty reads the Gospel.

We will understand what space and time are, and therefore we will know where we – and everything else - came from, where we are, and where we are going in the future. In this way, as Hawking puts it very neatly and briefly, we will then know the mind of God.

And wouldn’t that be interesting, to say the least.

A scientist, away at the earlier end of the twentieth century, believed that we were very close to understanding how space and time worked.

In fact, he more or less said, “We are six months away from the end of the science of Physics”.

Well, he turned out to be wrong.

Some eighty years later, Stephen Hawking, with clarity and humour, asserted that we were closer than ever to a unified theory of space and time, but he also saw that it was still out of reach.

He didn’t live to see a unified theory of everything, and here we are, still trying to work out where we all come from, where we’re all going, and what, if anything, it all means.

In spite of help from the likes of Newton and Einstein, we’re still struggling to tell the time, the real time.

All we know is that time is very slippery stuff.

Our watches owe their twelve hour faces to the ancient Egyptians of 1500 BC, and we largely owe our 24 hours in the day to the ancient Sumerians’ remarkably accurate observations of time - a very long time ago.

As a species, we’ve been at this for a quite a while, then, but we’re still not there.

We still don’t know the mind of God. But we do have a few glimpses of it.

Members of the The Society of High Constables of Edinburgh.

The Lord also has something to say about this. The gospel text today finishes with Jesus saying, “The Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect”.

Of course, this adds something to our view of time.

Of course, Jesus isn’t quite talking about astronomy, but about the time we have this side of eternity, about the time we are alive, about our moral compass and about how much time we have left to get things right.

As individuals, we know empirically that we won’t be here for ever, and that surely ought to add a little urgency to what we’re going to do with the time we have.

At this point, anthropologists and environmentalists chip something as well. One of them once famously said, “Men and women are party animals”.

In other words, people are mostly interested in the good times, and don’t want to hear about the bad times, and certainly not about the end of time.

When we look at Edinburgh festivals, we see a lot of partying. They certainly propose a good time for everyone, and the numbers of visitors to our festivals speak for themselves.

And yet, somewhere deep down, we must acknowledge that there will be a time when it all has to get real, and a time when we’re not here anymore. And what does that mean for you? More partying? More anaesthetic? Do you push it away? Or does it make you pause, and think, and value just a little bit more the limited time you undoubtedly have?

Our city is the home to the third largest ticketed event in the world: after the Olympics and the World Cup comes us and Edinburgh’s festivals.

It’s a tribute to the human wish to party on, to enjoy the time we have here.

But it can also help us stand back, and notice that life’s not always like that.

It can become an opportunity to notice the many things we do enjoy during the festivals, to be grateful for the friendships, and the fun, and the beauty of what we can achieve when we put our minds to it – and also to notice that we won’t always be here.

Provost Robert Aldridge receives a blessing from Archbishop Leo Cushley.

We don’t know the day or the hour of our own departure or of the end of all this. If we did, we would know our purpose, we would know the mind of God.

But let’s already endeavour to glimpse and acknowledge that our place here is a small one, a brief one. Let’s make our time here count, not in complete craziness, but in knowledge of self, in contentment with what we have, in magnanimity to strangers, and in love to friends.

Then the day and the hour can come, and we will be a little readier for it, and little more content to face eternity.

Have a wonderful festival, thanks for listening and God bless you all!