|TOP|The Church of Scotland took a closer look at its role in global issues like AIDS and poverty when its annual General Assembly was held in Edinburgh last week.

The week kicked off with an address from the new Moderator of the General Assembly, the Rt Rev Alan McDonald, minister of Cameron and St Leonards, in which he thanked the retiring Moderator, the Very Rev David Lacy, for his year in office.

Bishop Michael Baroi of Bangladesh presented the first major report of the week on the “scandal of world poverty” during the Saturday evening. He warned that sincere effort from all people was the only thing that could break the vicious cycle of poverty that so many people in developing countries find themselves in.

The poverty in Palestine was also highlighted during the evening by the Rev Mitri Rahed from Bethlehem who said that Palestinians are made poor by the continued stealing of resources by Israel and have no choice but to live in what he termed open air prisons. He added, however, that the Palestinians are looking not for aid but for justice.

|AD|The General Assembly also voted in favour of a petition presented by the Very Rev Dr Cairns for a new commission to be established to review the strength of the voice of local churches and their place within the national structures of the Church.

Convener Shirley Brown went on later in the week to draw attention to the lack of knowledge about AIDS/HIV and the remaining problems of entrenched attitudes following a conference on the pandemic organised by the Kirk in Kenya earlier in the year.

She urged commissioners to be particularly sensitive to the stigma, ignorance, denial and discrimination that still remain in Scotland surrounding the illness.

Convener Morag Milne presented the Church and Society Council’s report which raised a number of key issues in society including religious observance in schools, attitudes to Trident Nuclear weapons, and the treatment of asylum seekers.

Within the Legal Questions report arose the issue of blessings for civil partnerships from Church of Scotland ministers. Convener the Rev Ann Inglis said that the line distinguishing civil law from Church was no longer so clear, adding that the Kirk was bound by the Civil Partnership Act to extend certain rights in relation to housing and pensions to those in civil partnerships.

The convener concluded the report by saying that the committee wished to affirm the freedom of pastoral conscience of ministers in deciding whether or not to conduct ceremonies blessing civil partnerships.

This stance was supported by the Assembly after a long and detailed discussion on the issue and will now be put to presbyteries for their concurrence. A report on this will be put to the Assembly in 2007.