EUROPE/SCOTLAND - Concerned about speedier divorce proceedings proposed in new Family Law Bill, Scotland’s Cardinal urges for more counselling to protect marriage, the traditional building block of every society

Rome (Fides Service) - Responding to reports that the Scottish Executive plan to introduce legislation to speed up divorce proceedings, on 21 March, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Scotland, voiced deep concern after the suggestion that the Scottish Executive are considering a reduction in the time period for non-contested divorce cases from two years to one year. He said that The Cardinal said that what couples whose marriages are in difficulty need is quick and convenient access to professional support and counselling adding that
He stressed the effectiveness of early intervention in rescuing marriages, which avoids considerable financial and emotional costs and protects children from trauma and suffering. the Cardinal said.

The Cardinal said counselling was shown to work equally well for both men and women and for all social classes and that not only does counselling help unhappy marriages, its effectiveness is also relatively quick. The study found that the optimum number of counselling sessions required by Accord clients was 7-8. The Cardinal urged the Scottish Executive to learn from this information and PS (Fides Service 22/3/2004 EM lines 31 Words: 395)