The announcement of Monsignor Leo Cushley as Archbishop-elect of St Andrews and Edinburgh is good news, both for the Archdiocese and for the Scottish Catholic Church.
The relative speed with which the matter of an appointment has been resolved is an indication of the seriousness with which Rome views the situation in Scotland.
Four of the eight dioceses have been vacant, and the fall of Cardinal O'Brien left bishops, clergy and laity shocked and shamed at the disgrace brought upon the Church. This was all the greater for the prominence that Archbishop O'Brien had enjoyed, following in a course previously laid out by Cardinal Winning.
Each in turn was described as leader of the Catholic Church in Scotland, but there is no such position and neither Archbishop Tartaglia nor Archbishop-to-be Cushley will agree to be described as such. Rome has forgone the services of one of its few native English-speaking clergy, no less than the head of the English section of the Secretariat of State.
It has not done that lightly but in response to a case made by the Nuncio and other senior figures to provide an able, knowledgeable and prudent churchman to lead the recovery of the Archdiocese and to work with others in returning the Church to its primary purpose: the preaching of the gospel, the provision of the sacraments and the care of souls.
John Haldane is professor of philosophy at St Andrews University and Pontifical Consultor for the Vatican
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