Winning aligns Church with Scottish Nationals

BY JOE JENKINS
WHILE the Catholic Church in Scotland denied this week that its bishops were divided over the wording of a controversial pre-election statement, Cardinal Winning has told friends that he is privately backing the Scottish National Party.
The Cardinal, who has become an ardent critic of the Labour Party since it won power in 1997, is believed to have been put under pressure by his brother bishops who felt the statement too openly pro-nationalist. In the final version — to be read at Mass on Sunday just days before Thursday's election — a reference to "Scotland's historic place within the United Kingdom" was inserted.
The row echoes concerns expressed at the timing of the publication in England and Wales of the tacitly proLabour Catholic social teaching document, The Common Good — five months before the 1997 General Election.
The statement promotes marriage as the foundation of family life, defends Catholic schools, attacks student tuition fees and calls for nuclear disarmament, positions which insiders say are "planks" of both the Scottish Catholic Church and SNP policy.
The phrasing of the statement appears to offer only tacit support for the national ists, but has been welcomed by the SNP, who are failing to impress the electorate, according to opinion polls. Leader Alex Salmond has appealed to Catholic voters with his opposition to nuclear weapons, voluntary euthanasia and the war in Kosovo, as well as his support for tightening abortion law.
In an interview in this week's Scottish Catholic Observer, Donald Dewar, the Secretary of State at the Scottish Office who is likely to become First Minister of the Scottish Parliament, said: "I think every individual in society and certainly leaders are entitled to express views. I would be alarmed if they wanted to translate views into instructions. I am absolutely sure that Tom Winning wouldn't want to do that."
Last October, Cardinal Winning said he anticipated that Scotland would gain independence within ten years. An opinion poll last August showed that 58 per cent of Scottish Catholics would vote for independence in a referendum.
John Haldane—p4