Roman Catholicism in Scotland

The Catholic Church in Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: An Eaglais Chaitligeach; Scots: Catholic Kirk), overseen by the Scottish Bishops' Conference, is part of the worldwide Catholic Church headed by the Pope. After being firmly established in Scotland for nearly a millennium, the Catholic Church was outlawed following the Scottish Reformation in 1560. Catholic Emancipation in 1793 helped Catholics regain civil rights. In 1878, the Catholic hierarchy was formally restored. Throughout these changes, several pockets in Scotland retained a significant pre-Reformation Catholic population, including parts of Banffshire, the Hebrides, and more northern parts of the Scottish Highlands.

In 1716, Scalan seminary was established in the Highlands and rebuilt in the 1760s by Bishop John Geddes, a well-known figure in the Edinburgh of the Enlightenment period. When Robert Burns wrote to a correspondent that "the first [that is, finest] cleric character I ever saw was a Roman Catholick", he was referring to Geddes. The Gàidhealtachd has been both Catholic and Protestant in modern times. A number of Scottish Gaelic areas now are mainly Catholic, including Barra, South Uist, and Moidart. The poet and novelist Angus Peter Campbell writes frequently about the Catholic Church in his work. (See also the "Religion of the Yellow Stick".)

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