News

Archbishop Mario Conti, RIP

Archbishop Mario Conti, Emeritus Archbishop of Glasgow, has died aged 88. A warm, gentle and much loved figure, especially in the Italian community in Scotland, he worked in ecumenism and interfaith matters, testified by the many honours he received, including that of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa by the University of Aberdeen in 1989, the first Catholic priest to be so honoured since the Reformation.

Mario Conti studied at St Mary’s College, Blairs, Aberdeenshire, before attending the Scots College and Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome where he obtained degrees in philosophy and theology and was ordained a priest in Rome on October 26, 1958.

He was appointed bishop of Aberdeen in February 1977; Archbishop of Glasgow in 2002.

Archbishop Conti was Principal Chaplain to the British Association of the Order of Malta, 1995-2000, who remember him with appreciation and affection. From one of his many remarkable sermons to members: ‘One of the prime challenges which the Church, and in a special way members of the Order, have to face today lies in the communication of the Christian message to people outside and within the Church who are immersed in a culture that is both post-modern and post-Christian.’

                                                                                          Mario Conti, (20 March 1934 – 8 November 2022)

Photo credit: the Herald, Scotland