A Glasgow priest is joining forces with other faith leaders to challenge Scotland's ban on in-person church services during lockdown.

Canon Tom White, of St Alphonsus parish in Glasgow, is being supported by ADF UK, with two hearings to take place on 11 and 12 March. 

He will be giving evidence as part of a judicial review led by 27 faith leaders of other denominations against the Scottish Government's "disproportionate" ban on in-person worship during lockdown.

Speaking ahead of the court action, Canon White said: "I think we can all agree at this time that it's very, very important that we keep each other safe, and that we keep our local communities safe; but as Christians, we acknowledge that we not only have physical needs, but spiritual needs.

"We need to make sure that we're not neglecting our spiritual needs. This is really, truly essential for the wider holistic health of ourselves as a society." 

Leaders involved in the judicial review come from the Church of Scotland, the Free Church of Scotland, and the Free Church of Scotland (Continuing).

The church leaders, who are being supported by Christian Concern, are asking the courts to declare the Scottish Government's lockdown ban on in-person services unlawful.

Representing them during the remote hearing will be human rights QC Aidan O'Neill, who successfully fought the Scottish Government's proposed named person 'state guardian' scheme at the UK Supreme Court.

Canon White has also come out in support of ADF UK's new "Let Us Worship" campaign, which is gathering signatures of support from the public.

He said: "Freedom of religion is a foundational human right. This right  should be  limited  only  to the extent that is ' necessary and proportionate'.

"The government's own medical advisors conceded in November that there is no robust medical evidence for the closure of churches, which have remained open in most European countries throughout 2021."

Ryan Christopher, Director of ADF UK said: "There is no clear reason why the Scottish government could not find solutions which protect both the vulnerable and those who understand their communal worship to be as essential as food and water."

During the hearings, the church leaders will question why Holyrood enacted far more stringent measures than the rest of the UK, where churches were allowed to continue holding services in church during lockdown, and why certain businesses were allowed to stay open while places of worship were deemed a risk.

Canon White said: "We've seen the government allow bicycle shops and dry-cleaners to open throughout the current lockdown, whilst my grieving community has had no access to their church or the sacraments – an essential source of comfort, hope and spiritual nourishment."

"It's vital that the court determine whether the three-month suspension of all public worship was disproportionate, and, if so, prevent this extreme step from being taken again in the future," he continued.

Scottish churches will be allowed to resume in-person services from around 5 April, with possible exceptions at Easter but a cap of 20 in attendance to begin with.

Canon White said: "The Scottish government's plan to reopen church doors from April is welcome progress, but it does not rectify the unjust blanket ban on public worship that is still in force and has been in place for months – particularly at a time of suffering."