Church leaders get humanists and pagans banned from speaking at interfaith event

February 25, 2025

We and the Scottish Pagan Federation were banned from the event at Glasgow Cathedral, marking the city’s 850th anniversary, after Catholic and Church of Scotland leaders’ objections.

An extraordinary article in The Times reveals that both Humanist Society Scotland and the Scottish Pagan Federation were banned from speaking at an interfaith event at Glasgow Cathedral celebrating the city’s 850th anniversary.

The Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, William Nolan, and Jan Mathieson, CoS moderator of the Presbytery of Glasgow, refused to participate if we and the Pagan Federation were invited to speak.

This flies in the face of the secular principles of a modern democracy, and indicates a worrying bigotry in some faith leaders’ attitudes to non-monotheistic and non-traditional belief groups.

Humanists conduct more weddings in Scotland than all faith groups combined. Paganism, meanwhile, is the fourth largest religion in Scotland, with more adherents than Judaism, Sikhism, or Buddhism.

Humanists conduct more weddings in Scotland than all faith groups combined. Paganism, meanwhile, is the fourth largest religion in Scotland, with more adherents than Judaism, Sikhism, or Buddhism. The Scottish Pagan Federation has aligned itself with humanist political causes including on issues of bodily autonomy.

Our CEO Fraser Sutherland said: “Humanists have spoken at the last two Kirking of the Parliament events at St Giles Cathedral, and at many other state events. However, this objection is not surprising. Until a decade ago we were barred from interfaith discussions, as were Pagans. And there are still some in traditional religious circles who think that should be the case. Nonetheless it’s embarrassing to see church leaders behaving like this.”

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