Canon John McWilliam

THE Catholic Church in Scotland and the whole Christian community in

the north-east of the country mourned the death this week of 91-year-old

Canon John Lewis McWilliam who spent the 66 years of his priestly life

working and caring for others regardless of their religion.

The parish priest of St Margaret's, Huntly, had a philosophy in life

-- not to worry, enjoy everything in moderation, and have a lively faith

in divine providence. Divine providence was certainly kind to Canon

McWilliam. He never considered retirement and was allowed to work until

he died on Tuesday afternoon. He was the oldest working priest in

Scotland if not Britain.

That morning he met the other canons of Aberdeen diocese for their

monthly meeting in the city, enjoyed lunch with them, then returned home

alone to Huntly where he had been parish priest since 1977, and died. He

will be buried on Monday after Requiem Mass in his church.

Although he owned a car, the canon, who was affectionately called

''the Pope'' by the people of Huntly, was regularly seen riding his

bicycle or walking round his parish visiting his parishioners. He always

thought it amusing that one of his visits was to see the ''old folk'' in

the local geriatric hospital.

Born in Buckie, where his father was a master baker, he was educated

at the local primary school, then continued at St Mary's College,

Blairs, near Aberdeen, which was the junior seminary for Scotland. From

there he went to the Royal Scots College in Valadolid in Spain where he

was ordained in May, 1929. His fellow students included Joseph McGhee,

later to become Bishop of Galloway, and William Hart, later to become

Bishop of Dunkeld.

After ordination, Canon McWilliam returned to Scotland where his first

appointment was to St Mary's Cathedral in Aberdeen. Fifteen months later

he was made parish priest in Stonehaven. Then there were only 60 souls,

unlike today where there are over 600 because of the oil boom.

There followed a five-year spell back in St Mary's Cathedral as

administrator for the late Bishop Walsh. During his time there a young

curate, Father Mario Conti, joined him and of course went on to become

Bishop Conti. The canon always had a twinkle in his eye when he recalled

those days and joked with his fellow priests: ''I prepared him for high

office.''

The death of his twin brother at the age of 10 had a major effect on

his life, as did the death of his cousin when they were both students in

Spain. The canon's older brother, Alexander, was also a priest, having

been ordained in Rome. He went on to become a noted historian and was

appointed Monsignor in the Aberdeen diocese.

In his later years Canon McWilliam cooked and looked after himself. He

made sure each morning he had his porridge and at lunchtime his own

home-made soup. He enjoyed a dram of whisky but, like everthing else, it

was in moderation. He also smoked.

He was strongly in favour of modern seminary students having a course

in domestic science before ordination so that when they were appointed

to a parish they would not have to rely on a housekeeper but would be

able to look after themselves.

He enjoyed telling the story of how a couple whom he had married

celebrated their silver wedding and in their notice in the local paper

said they had been married by the late Canon McWilliam. He pointed out

to them he certainly was not dead yet and the couple happily corrected

their mistake.

The canon confessed that if he had not been a priest he would have

loved to have been a farmer. He would tell friends: ''On a summer day I

would love to be behind a plough with a pair of horses. But that is

looking at life through coloured spectacles.''

During his 66 years as a priest, Canon John Lewis McWilliam has been

gathering in a very special harvest. Now he is enjoying the fruits

reserved for a good and faithful servant.