A Declaration of Friendship between the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Churchin Scotland (Full Text)
We, the undersigned, representing the Church of Scotland and the Catholic Church inScotland, wish publicly to express our recognition of each other as Christians, and as
children of God in Christ (Galatians 3: 25-28). We recognise each other as brothers andsisters in Christ, and we wish to express our friendship and respect for one another as
fellow Christians, citizens and partners in announcing the kingdom of God in our land.
Since the World Missionary Conference (Edinburgh, 1910), and the Second Vatican Council(1962-1965) much has been done ecumenically to repair what was broken and to restore
mutual respect and friendship.
A great deal has been achieved spiritually, practically and affectively, through joint prayer
among our parishes, various joint commissions, and the growing knowledge andappreciation of each other as Christian friends and fellow pilgrims.

A shared faith
Progress has been made on that which we hold in common.
We believe in one God, the Creator; we believe in Jesus Christ, his only begotten Son, true
God and true man, fully divine and fully human, who died in the flesh and rose to save us
from sin and death; and we believe in the Holy Spirit. We believe in the Holy Trinity, one
God in three persons. We believe that the Church is one, holy, catholic and apostolic; andwe acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins, in the name of the Father and ofthe Son and of the Holy Spirit.
We believe our faith to be rooted in that of the Apostles, Christ's first disciples, those whoknew and followed our Lord in this life. We recognise and treasure the Sacred Scriptures,as God's revelation of His love for all humanity. We recognise and hold in common thegreat ecumenical councils of the first five Christian centuries.

Our common home
We recognise, as our common heritage, the Gospel first brought to our shores so very longago. We recall with gratitude to God the earliest missionaries, our forebears in the faith,
who lived and preached the Christian faith to our land. We recall those from that time who
led and formed the Church, nurturing a society inspired by Christian values, including St
Ninian, St Columba and St Margaret.

Past divisions
We recognise the hurt and the harm that our forebears did to each other in times past, andwe repent and ask forgiveness of one other. We also recognise that, even in more recent

times, much could have been said between us more kindly, written more magnanimously,
and done more charitably, to promote pardon and healing and friendship among
Christians in our land.

Challenges which remain
There remain points at which we have not yet found a meeting place, and it is true thatsome questions still divide us.
Acknowledging what separates us still, we reaffirm that what we hold in common is often
greater than what divides us. While recognising that unity does not mean uniformity, wecommit ourselves to continuing our pilgrimage towards greater unity, as we believe that itis the Lord's will that we be one (John 17: 21). We trust that such developing unity in Christis the Lord's work and the Spirit's doing.

Looking towards the future
We therefore pledge ourselves to live as sisters and brothers in Christ, in public and inprivate, in life and in mission; to pray with each other and for each other; to be goodneighbours, both to each other and to all people among whom we live, of all faiths andnone; and to work together for the common good of the nation, as it is given to us to see it.
May there be an ever more united Christian voice in the land, informed always by thecharity and love of Christ and our call to participate in the mission of God. May wecontribute to the good of society, while humbly learning from others and from our own
mistakes. May our theological reflections and initiatives together thrive; and may ourpilgrimage together in our dear land of Scotland bear much fruit to the good of all, and to
the greater glory of God.