ALL the Scottish bishops, together with MPs, civic leaders, representatives from the Vatican, members of diocesan societies and clergy of other denominations crowded into St Mary's Cathedral, Aberdeen, for the installation of Bishop Mario Conti of Aberdeen on Tuesday.
The episcopal ordination was carried out by Cardinal Gordon Gray of St Andrews and Edin burgh, assisted by Bishop Stephen McGill of Paisley and Bishop Cohn MacPherson of Argyll and the Isles. In his sermon, Archbishop Thomas Winning of Glasgow said that the bishop was the spiritual leader of his people and had to exercise his leadership in the context of Christian love — "to lead even prophetically without a deep personal love of God and for all those in his care would make a bishop's life barren and sterile."
At the ceremonial greeting of the diocesan clergy, there was visible evidence that the friction, caused by the diocesan ban on Fr Adrian Hastings, had disappeared. Bishop Conti, whose first action had been to lift the ban, embraced Fr Hastings. Fr Hastings then turned to Mgr Fitzpatrick, who had issued the ban in the first place, and warmly shook hands with him.
£7m grant to Bangladesh
Britain is providing Bangladesh with a £7.14 million grant in connection with the Adarsha and Mahini textile mills project. It will be used to establish two new cotton spinning plants to ensure a cheaper and more reliable supply of cotton yarn for local village and hand loom weaving. The project is financed by the Ministry of Overseas Development.
Spanish bishops' ban on voting Communist
Within a month after legalisation of the Communist Party, the Spanish bishops have warned Catholics that they must not vote for political groups "incompatible with the Christian Faith."
The steering committee of the Spanish Bishops' Conference issued the warning at the end of a meeting in Madrid. They also opposed Catholic support of capitalist parties advocating profit as the "exlusive motive of economic progress,"
S Africa Anglicans support Catholics
The Synod of Bishops of the two million-strong Church of the Anglican Province of South Africa has fully supported the stand on conscientious objection taken by the Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, The Catholic bishops issued their statement supporting conscientious objection in Vehruary. Their stand was that the Church believed it was necessary for the State to provide alternative forms of non-military service, as is done in other countries in the world. The decision by the Anglican bishops was taken at a meeting in the Transkei capital of Umtata.
Sentence on Rhodesia priest suspended
An Irish-born priest. Fr Laurence Lynch, 43, and an Anglican missionary, the Rev Michael Pocock, 48, have been freed after pleading guilty in a Rhodesian cuurt to charges of giving food and clothing to nationalist guerrillas.
They had been sentenced to 31 years in prison under the Law and Order Maintenance Act, but the magistrate suspended the sentence after deciding that they had not sympathised with terrorism.
Pope John crosses
With the approval of Archbishop Loris Francesco Capovilla of Mesembria, a strictly limited number of silver crosses bearing the image of Pope John XXIII will be made for friends of Pope John and for those who honour him.