Glasgow's new archbishop lays down challenge to lay people

BY LUKE COPPEN
TilE SECULAR world will not listen to the Church unless lay people are bold witnesses to the Catholic faith, the new Archbishop of Glasgow warned the faithful during his installation ceremony last week.
Archbishop Mario Conti said that the words of his predecessor, Cardinal Thomas Winning, had "reverberated" around the world, but the Church's message would not be heeded if lay people did not practice it in their everyday lives.
Speaking during his installation Mass at Glasgow's St Andrew's Cathedral, Archbishop Conti promised to defend the Church's teaching in fidelity to the See of Peter, to support married families and to erase sectarianism from Scottish life.
He said "It is now some 35 years since the Second Vatican Council. The need expressed then has become ever more pressing because of the progressive secularisation of our society, and its increasing reluctance to heed the official voice of the Church.
"It is not as if that voice has not
been heard. It has reverberated from this very place, through the powerful words and witness of my predecessor of happy memory. However, words will only be heeded if those who speak can back them, not only with the example of their own lives, but the lives of the community they lead.
"Today therefore the need is greater than ever for each man and woman, baptised into the Church, to live a life of holiness, of commitment, entering into dialogue with the men and women of our time. offering to all the gifts of wisdom of the Catholic Church, while at the same time respecting the
sanctuary of another's conscience," the archbishop said in his homily last Friday.
Archbishop Conti celebrated his first Mass as leader of Glasgow archdiocese together with 200 priests. and cardinals, archbishops and bishops from Scotland. England and Ireland.
The archbishop, who was chosen to lead the Archdiocese of Glasgow after the death of Cardinal Winning from a heart attack in June 2001. said that the world desperately needed witnesses to marital fidelity and parental love.
"We must do all we can to support marriage and the family," he said. "That will undoubtedly be one of my main priorities."
The archbishop, who was Bishop of Aberdeen for almost 25 years before his appointment to Glasgow in January, also defended faith schools against secular critics who accused them of deepening sectarian divisions in Glasgow.
"It will not be by the dismantling of our Catholic schools that bigotry will be overcome," he said, "but by learning in them that necessary attitude of respect and tolerance
which I am certain our teachers already aim to instil in the minds and hearts of our youngsters. You can depend on me to defend this invaluable legacy of our forebears. and to strive to ensure the highest quality of teaching and faith practice in them."
Archbishop Conti, who is 68 this month, took possession of Glasgow archdiocese on the feast of the Chair of St Peter. On the night before the feast, he celebrated Vespers at St Andrew's Cathedral in the presence of local dignitaries.
In a homily, he promised to continue the "long history of cooperation between the Church and the institutions" of the city of Glasgow.
He paid to tribute to Cardinal Winning's work in tackling social problems, such as poverty and drug abuse.
He said: "Respect, friendship, dialogue, co-operation, these are some of the key words of this address. Indirectly they answer the question as to how we are to face the challenge of residual sectarianism and bigotry which unfortunately at times still mar the face of this great city. We know there are no magic solutions to the problem.
"We sense that it is going to be an uphill struggle, but we are convinced that ultimately, by all sections of the community working together, and the grace of God coming upon us, ancient animosities will give way to a civilisation of love."
During Vespers, Archbishop Conti sat for the first time in the cathedra, or bishop's chair, which had remained unoccupied since the death of Cardinal Winning. As he was seated, the papal nuncio, Archbishop Pablo Puente, read out a letter of appointment. signed by Pope John Paul 11.
"Since you, Venerable Brother, have, for 25 yean, served with a sincere heart the clergy and faithful of dm Diocese of Aberdeen, diligently proclaiming the truth of mlvation. and fostering respect for the dignity of the human person, you seem suited to us to undertake the government of this Metropolitan See," said the letter, known as a papal bull.
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