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9th June 2008
A message from the Bishop
Inverness, capital of the Highlands of Scotland, is one of the fastest-growing cities in Europe. The optimism and vigour of the city is well reflected in the enthusiasm and liveliness of the members of the young Catholic community of Culloden, on the Eastern outskirts of Inverness. Their new church of St Columba, now under construction, is the flowering of many years of hoping and praying, of fellowship and fund-raising. It is the realisation of the vision which led Canon Duncan Stone, thirty years ago, to purchase an elevated site overlooking the beautiful Moray Firth and the mountains beyond.
For people in Scotland, and for emigré Scots world-wide, the name Culloden resonates with the tears and sadness of the conflicts of the mid-eighteenth century. The moorland site of the Battle of Culloden (1746) lies only a mile from our new church. But the rivalries and bitterness are a distant memory: today there is co-operation and open friendliness.
After years of worshipping in the local primary school, the parishioners at St Columba’s look forward to having Mass in their own church building within this current year. Local fund-raising has raised over £250,000 and diocesan funds will provide a larger sum as an interest-free loan. However, the total cost amounts to over £770,000.
To address the shortfall, and to begin the loan repayments, these patient but confident people will need the help of many others. To enlist that help, I am very pleased to launch this appeal, with its detailed brochure.
I hope that the appeal will reach friends across the Highlands, and people elsewhere who have an Inverness ancestry or other connection, and also, those for whom the names of Culloden or Columba carry special hopes and memories.
The parishioners at St Columba’s Culloden have my whole-hearted backing as they work to make their vision a reality. I look forward with pleasant anticipation to the formal opening of the new church in a few months’ time.
Please spread their good news among your friends, and make whatever contribution you can to their fund-raising campaign. Thank you!
+ Peter
Rt Rev Peter A. Moran
Bishop of Aberdeen
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