SCOTLAND
Scottish Catholic Observer
This week’s editorial
Speculation in the secular media this week about the timing of much-needed, and long awaited, Vatican appointments to the Scottish hierarchy falls into the ‘smoke’ and ‘fire’ category—if enough hot air is blown as smoke then there must be a fire somewhere, correct? Not quite.
The facts are these: Two Scottish dioceses (Dunkeld and Paisley) were without bishops prior to Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s resignation as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh in February, and another two bishops reached the retirement age of 75 in the last 12 months. In the second half of the 20th century Scotland had one of the youngest Episcopal hierarchies in Europe, and, until the most recent appointments, we had one of the oldest and most experienced.
Five of Scotland’s eight dioceses are now without permanent Vatican-appointed leaders and we pray Pope Francis will make Scotland—‘special daughter of the see of Rome’ (Clement III, 1188)—an urgent priority. However, getting the appointments ‘right’ must be the overriding factor.
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