The Catholic Church in Scotland began an aggressive campaign to “de-secularize” and “re-Christianize” the highly catholic nation under the leadership of the newly appointed cardinal Keith O’Brien.

Local authorities will be asked to include the word “Christmas” on their 2004 greeting cards.

"We will probably send a letter to every local authority and the parliament at the stage when people are ordering and designing things like Christmas cards,” said O’Brien. "If we plan it far enough ahead there should be no excuse for people not getting it right next year."

Councils will also be asked to include a nativity scene as part of their festive displays in next year’s celebrations.

At last month’s mass, O’Brien commended the councils that created nativity scenes for the 2003 Christmas season.

"I would ask each and every council and community in Scotland to consider doing likewise," he said.

"Aware of the remembrance memorials which are the focus of our prayer on Remembrance Sunday and aware also of the ways in which considerable sums of money are spent on Christmas displays, I think it only appropriate that there be a nativity scene at the centre of the celebrations of each of our communities.

"Without this there is left a gaping hole at the heart of the season of goodwill."