Mario Joseph Conti
Encyclopedia
Mario Joseph Conti is the current Catholic Archbishop
of the Metropolitan see of Glasgow
, Scotland.
, Moray
, son of Louis Joseph Conti and Josephine Quintilia Conti (née Panicali). He studied for the priesthood at The Scots College
, Rome
and was ordained a priest
of the Diocese of Aberdeen
in the Church of San Marcello al Corso
, by Archbishop Luigi Traglia on 26 October 1958.
After a period as Assistant Priest at St Mary's Cathedral in Aberdeen, Fr Conti served as parish priest of the most northerly Roman Catholic parish in the UK mainland, St Joachim
's and St Anne's (Wick
and Thurso
respectively) in Caithness
from 1962 to 1977. He was appointed bishop of Aberdeen
on the 28 February 1977, succeeding Michael Foylan. He was consecrated to that post by Cardinal Gordon Gray on 3 May 1979. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa by the University of Aberdeen in 1989, being the first Catholic priest to be so honoured since the Reformation.
While as bishop of Aberdeen he was forced to reject claims that he sought to protect the interests of nuns and priests above those of children who said they had been abused. It followed the conviction of Sister Marie Docherty on four charges of cruelty towards girls at Nazareth House childrens' homes in Aberdeen
and Midlothian
in the 1960s and 1970s. The Liberal Democrats
MP for Gordon, Malcolm Bruce
, called on the church to apologise to Sister Marie's victims, but Conti resisted any public apology.
Bishop Conti was translated to the archdiocese of Glasgow
on 15 January 2002, succeeding the late Thomas Winning
. He took possession of the archdiocese on 22 February 2002.
Pope John Paul II
bestowed the Pallium
on Archbishop Conti on 29 June 2004, the Feast of Saint Peter
and Saint Paul
. Archbishop Conti is a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
.
He was preceded by Cardinal Thomas Joseph Winning.
of "rudeness and prejudice" in its coverage of the Roman Catholic Church and of "gross insensitivity" at the time of Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee
. He said that the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and the beatification of Mother Teresa
had been marked with a documentary entitled Sex and the Holy City, which looked at the effectiveness of condoms in the fight against AIDS
. He also questioned the plans to broadcast a cartoon called Popetown
, which satirised the Pope as a childish pensioner and he accused Newsnight
Scotland of conducting a "sneering and aggressive" interview on the church's position on shared campus schools. The National Secular Society
described the claims as "grossly anti-democratic and dangerous". A spokesperson for the BBC said: "We are always keen to ensure that all faiths are reflected across our output and are reported accurately.
. He claimed the first step on the "nightmarish journey" had been the acceptance of test tube babies or invitro fertilisation (IVF) in 1978. His comments were rebuked as "shocking" by the fertility expert Robert Winston
. "If this were not enough, he has taken the astonishing course of comparing the kind of research conducted by people like myself with what was carried out under the evil regime of the Nazis. He has the effrontery to compare the life-giving work we are attempting with the appalling events of the Holocaust and the liquidation of the Jews."
of the Local Government Act despite efforts by the government to repeal. The letter argued that it was important to prevent the funding and promotion of educational material overtly promoting homosexual practice in schools.
In 2006 Conti publicly voiced his views on the case of nine Scottish firefighters who had been disciplined for refusing to attend a gay pride
event, saying it was wrong of to expect them to participate. Not because homosexual people should not be given fire safety advice, but because the men felt uncomfortable about the 'kiss-a-fireman' campaign allegedly planned for the event.
Also in 2006, Conti called on MSP
s to reject the Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Bill, which would provide unmarried couples in "committed" relationships with equality in areas like inheritance, pensions and bereavement saying, "It is not homophobia and we have no gripe against homosexuals per se but we believe that the homosexual relationship is subversive." He later criticised government proposals to permit the adoption of children by gay couples.
Later that same year he preached a sermon which put forward the view that the moral teaching of the Church was being undermined. In part of the sermon, he criticized the UK's civil partnerships legislation which had recently been introduced. He also mentioned the Catholic Church’s traditional teaching, stating that homosexual acts cannot be considered equivalent to marital love between a man and a woman. After Patrick Harvie
(a Green
MSP
and advocate of LGBT equality) heard about the Archbishop's sermon, he wrote to the Chief Constable
of Strathclyde Police
asking for the Force to give clarity regarding the criteria for using breach of the peace
charges in relation to comments which might be seen to incite hatred on grounds of sexual orientation.
More recently, in October 2010 he sent a public letter to all Scottish parishes uring Catholic parishioners to oppose Government plans to give gay couples the right to marry. He warned that the move would create “larger divisions” in society. This prompted the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie
to suggest that the Catholic church was trying to control opinion.
proposals to tackle sexual health problems among young people. He argued that the draft strategy placed too much emphasis on medical treatment and not enough on spiritual or social worries. Concern over homosexuality being perceived as equal to heterosexual relationships and the absence of references to marriage in the report were also highlighted by the archbishop.
in his diocese. This made it more difficult for priests to freely celebrate the mass according to the 1962 missal in Glasgow.
Archbishop
An archbishop is a bishop of higher rank, but not of higher sacramental order above that of the three orders of deacon, priest , and bishop...
of the Metropolitan see of Glasgow
Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow
The Archdiocese of Glasgow is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland. Glasgow first became an archbishopric in 1492, eventually securing the dioceses of Galloway, Argyll and the Isles as suffragans....
, Scotland.
Life
Mario Joseph Conti was born on 20 March 1934, in ElginElgin, Moray
Elgin is a former cathedral city and Royal Burgh in Moray, Scotland. It is the administrative and commercial centre for Moray. The town originated to the south of the River Lossie on the higher ground above the flood plain. Elgin is first documented in the Cartulary of Moray in 1190...
, Moray
Moray
Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :...
, son of Louis Joseph Conti and Josephine Quintilia Conti (née Panicali). He studied for the priesthood at The Scots College
The Scots College (Rome)
The Scots College in Rome was established by Clement VIII in 1600, when it was assigned the revenue of the old Scots' hospice...
, Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
and was ordained a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
of the Diocese of Aberdeen
Diocese of Aberdeen
Diocese of Aberdeen was one of the 13 dioceses of the Scottish church, before the abolition of the episcopacy in 1689.-Early history:...
in the Church of San Marcello al Corso
San Marcello al Corso
San Marcello al Corso is a church in Rome, Italy, devoted to Pope Marcellus I. It is located in via del Corso, the ancient via Lata, connecting Piazza Venezia to Piazza del Popolo....
, by Archbishop Luigi Traglia on 26 October 1958.
After a period as Assistant Priest at St Mary's Cathedral in Aberdeen, Fr Conti served as parish priest of the most northerly Roman Catholic parish in the UK mainland, St Joachim
Joachim
Saint Joachim was the husband of Saint Anne and the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus in the Roman Catholic, Orthodox, and Anglican traditions. The story of Joachim and Anne appears first in the apocryphal Gospel of James...
's and St Anne's (Wick
Wick, Highland
Wick is an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness, of which Wick was the county town. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay...
and Thurso
Thurso
-Facilities:Offices of the Highland Council are located in the town, as is the main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College. This is one of several partner colleges which constitute the UHI Millennium Institute, and offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from...
respectively) in Caithness
Caithness
Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...
from 1962 to 1977. He was appointed bishop of Aberdeen
Bishop of Aberdeen
The Bishop of Aberdeen was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Aberdeen, one of Scotland's 13 medieval bishoprics, whose first recorded bishop is an early 12th century cleric named Nechtan...
on the 28 February 1977, succeeding Michael Foylan. He was consecrated to that post by Cardinal Gordon Gray on 3 May 1979. He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa by the University of Aberdeen in 1989, being the first Catholic priest to be so honoured since the Reformation.
While as bishop of Aberdeen he was forced to reject claims that he sought to protect the interests of nuns and priests above those of children who said they had been abused. It followed the conviction of Sister Marie Docherty on four charges of cruelty towards girls at Nazareth House childrens' homes in Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
and Midlothian
Midlothian
Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas....
in the 1960s and 1970s. The Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
MP for Gordon, Malcolm Bruce
Malcolm Bruce
Malcolm Gray Bruce, MP is a Scottish Liberal Democrat politician. He is the Member of Parliament for Gordon. He has been the chairman of the International Development Select Committee since 2005.-Early life:...
, called on the church to apologise to Sister Marie's victims, but Conti resisted any public apology.
Bishop Conti was translated to the archdiocese of Glasgow
Archdiocese of Glasgow
The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annandale, Nithsdale, Cunninghame, Kyle, and Strathgryfe, as well as Lennox Carrick...
on 15 January 2002, succeeding the late Thomas Winning
Thomas Winning
Thomas Joseph Winning was a Scottish Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Glasgow from 1974 and President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland from 1985 until his death...
. He took possession of the archdiocese on 22 February 2002.
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II
Blessed Pope John Paul II , born Karol Józef Wojtyła , reigned as Pope of the Catholic Church and Sovereign of Vatican City from 16 October 1978 until his death on 2 April 2005, at of age. His was the second-longest documented pontificate, which lasted ; only Pope Pius IX ...
bestowed the Pallium
Pallium
The pallium is an ecclesiastical vestment in the Roman Catholic Church, originally peculiar to the Pope, but for many centuries bestowed by him on metropolitans and primates as a symbol of the jurisdiction delegated to them by the Holy See. In that context it has always remained unambiguously...
on Archbishop Conti on 29 June 2004, the Feast of Saint Peter
Saint Peter
Saint Peter or Simon Peter was an early Christian leader, who is featured prominently in the New Testament Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles. The son of John or of Jonah and from the village of Bethsaida in the province of Galilee, his brother Andrew was also an apostle...
and Saint Paul
Paul of Tarsus
Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...
. Archbishop Conti is a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity
The Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity origins are associated with the Second Vatican Council which met intermittently from 1962–1965.Pope John XXIII wanted the Catholic Church to engage in the contemporary ecumenical movement...
.
He was preceded by Cardinal Thomas Joseph Winning.
Accusations against the BBC
In 2004, he accused the BBCBBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
of "rudeness and prejudice" in its coverage of the Roman Catholic Church and of "gross insensitivity" at the time of Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee
Silver Jubilee
A Silver Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, ruling anniversary or anything that has completed a 25 year mark...
. He said that the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and the beatification of Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa , born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu , was a Roman Catholic nun of Albanian ethnicity and Indian citizenship, who founded the Missionaries of Charity in Calcutta, India, in 1950...
had been marked with a documentary entitled Sex and the Holy City, which looked at the effectiveness of condoms in the fight against AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. He also questioned the plans to broadcast a cartoon called Popetown
Popetown
Popetown is a controversial animated sitcom, billed by its producers as "Father Ted meets South Park", following the doodles and scribblings of a student at school during a lesson. His drawings depict the life of Father Nicholas, who lives in a Vatican City parody referred to as "Popetown"...
, which satirised the Pope as a childish pensioner and he accused Newsnight
Newsnight
Newsnight is a BBC Television current affairs programme noted for its in-depth analysis and often robust cross-examination of senior politicians. Jeremy Paxman has been its main presenter for over two decades....
Scotland of conducting a "sneering and aggressive" interview on the church's position on shared campus schools. The National Secular Society
National Secular Society
The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation that promotes secularism and the separation of church and state. It holds that no-one should gain advantage or disadvantage because of their religion or lack of religion. It was founded by Charles Bradlaugh in 1866...
described the claims as "grossly anti-democratic and dangerous". A spokesperson for the BBC said: "We are always keen to ensure that all faiths are reflected across our output and are reported accurately.
Human cloning
In 2003, Conti publicly accused the UK Government of paving the way for human cloningHuman cloning
Human cloning is the creation of a genetically identical copy of a human. It does not usually refer to monozygotic multiple births nor the reproduction of human cells or tissue. The ethics of cloning is an extremely controversial issue...
. He claimed the first step on the "nightmarish journey" had been the acceptance of test tube babies or invitro fertilisation (IVF) in 1978. His comments were rebuked as "shocking" by the fertility expert Robert Winston
Robert Winston
Robert Maurice Lipson Winston, Baron Winston is a British professor, medical doctor, scientist, television presenter and politician.-Early life and education :...
. "If this were not enough, he has taken the astonishing course of comparing the kind of research conducted by people like myself with what was carried out under the evil regime of the Nazis. He has the effrontery to compare the life-giving work we are attempting with the appalling events of the Holocaust and the liquidation of the Jews."
Gay rights
Conti has persistently opposed any extension of legal rights to gays and lesbians living in Scotland. In 2000, h signed a public letter alongside Cardinal Winning which called for the retention of Section 28Section 28
Section 28 of the Local Government Act 1988 caused the controversial addition of Section 2A to the Local Government Act 1986 , enacted on 24 May 1988 and repealed on 21 June 2000 in Scotland, and on 18 November 2003 in the rest of Great Britain by section 122 of the Local Government Act 2003...
of the Local Government Act despite efforts by the government to repeal. The letter argued that it was important to prevent the funding and promotion of educational material overtly promoting homosexual practice in schools.
In 2006 Conti publicly voiced his views on the case of nine Scottish firefighters who had been disciplined for refusing to attend a gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...
event, saying it was wrong of to expect them to participate. Not because homosexual people should not be given fire safety advice, but because the men felt uncomfortable about the 'kiss-a-fireman' campaign allegedly planned for the event.
Also in 2006, Conti called on MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
s to reject the Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Bill, which would provide unmarried couples in "committed" relationships with equality in areas like inheritance, pensions and bereavement saying, "It is not homophobia and we have no gripe against homosexuals per se but we believe that the homosexual relationship is subversive." He later criticised government proposals to permit the adoption of children by gay couples.
Later that same year he preached a sermon which put forward the view that the moral teaching of the Church was being undermined. In part of the sermon, he criticized the UK's civil partnerships legislation which had recently been introduced. He also mentioned the Catholic Church’s traditional teaching, stating that homosexual acts cannot be considered equivalent to marital love between a man and a woman. After Patrick Harvie
Patrick Harvie
Patrick Harvie is the co-convenor of the Scottish Green Party and Member of the Scottish Parliament for the Glasgow region...
(a Green
Scottish Green Party
The Scottish Green Party is a green party in Scotland. It has two MSPs in the devolved Scottish Parliament, Alison Johnstone, representing Lothian, and Patrick Harvie, for Glasgow.-Organisation:...
MSP
Member of the Scottish Parliament
Member of the Scottish Parliament is the title given to any one of the 129 individuals elected to serve in the Scottish Parliament.-Methods of Election:MSPs are elected in one of two ways:...
and advocate of LGBT equality) heard about the Archbishop's sermon, he wrote to the Chief Constable
Chief Constable
Chief constable is the rank used by the chief police officer of every territorial police force in the United Kingdom except for the City of London Police and the Metropolitan Police, as well as the chief officers of the three 'special' national police forces, the British Transport Police, Ministry...
of Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police
Strathclyde Police is the territorial police force responsible for the Scottish council areas of Argyll and Bute, City of Glasgow, East Ayrshire, East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire and West...
asking for the Force to give clarity regarding the criteria for using breach of the peace
Breach of the peace
Breach of the peace is a legal term used in constitutional law in English-speaking countries, and in a wider public order sense in Britain.-Constitutional law:...
charges in relation to comments which might be seen to incite hatred on grounds of sexual orientation.
More recently, in October 2010 he sent a public letter to all Scottish parishes uring Catholic parishioners to oppose Government plans to give gay couples the right to marry. He warned that the move would create “larger divisions” in society. This prompted the Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie
Willie Rennie
William Cowan Rennie MSP is a Scottish politician and current Leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats.After college, Rennie spent most of his early career as a Liberal Democrat campaigner and official before working as a public relations consultant in the private sector...
to suggest that the Catholic church was trying to control opinion.
Lockerbie bomber
In 2009, Conti was vocal in supporting the release by the Scottish government of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who had been imprisoned for his part in the Lockerbie bombing. Conti argued that, "I personally, and many others in the Catholic community, admired the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on grounds of compassion which is, after all, one of the principles inscribed on the mace of the Scottish Parliament by which Scotland's government should operate."Sexual health
In 2004, Conti criticised Scottish ExecutiveScottish Executive
The Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
proposals to tackle sexual health problems among young people. He argued that the draft strategy placed too much emphasis on medical treatment and not enough on spiritual or social worries. Concern over homosexuality being perceived as equal to heterosexual relationships and the absence of references to marriage in the report were also highlighted by the archbishop.
Extraordinary form of the Roman rite
In 2007, in disobedience to the Pope, he issued directives that limited the application of the motu proprio Summorum PontificumSummorum Pontificum
Summorum Pontificum is an Apostolic Letter of Pope Benedict XVI, issued "motu proprio" . The document specified the rules, for the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, for celebrating Mass according to the "Missal promulgated by John XXIII in 1962" , and for administering most of the sacraments in...
in his diocese. This made it more difficult for priests to freely celebrate the mass according to the 1962 missal in Glasgow.