Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Catholic News

Home

Home
Catholic
Religion News
Scottish archbishop credits God’s grace for healing process in diocese

Scottish archbishop credits God’s grace for healing process in diocese

Last updated on: January 14, 2015 at 12:18 am by CNA Daily News

Scottish archbishop credits God’s grace for healing process in diocese 2015-01-14T00:18:00+00:00 CNA Daily News

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Edinburgh, Scotland, Jan 13, 2015 / 05:18 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Following the 2013 resignation of Cardinal Keith O'Brien as Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, his successor acknowledges the healing process for the diocese is continuing by God’s grace, but will take time.

“Time is a great healer, and that is certainly helping us. But there is also the grace of God assisting us in moving on from any difficulties we might have had in the past,” Archbishop Leo Cushley of St. Andrews and Edinburgh told CNA in an interview on Monday.

His predecessor resigned shortly before the 2013 conclave that elected Pope Francis, amid allegations that he made inappropriate sexual advances toward three priests in the 1980s. The cardinal later admitted the allegations to be true.

The new archbishop had a heavy burden ahead of him but promised “reconciliation and healing” for the archdiocese, and acknowledged the healing process is a “delicate” one.

“It’s something that I’ve spent a lot of time on, and a lot of effort on, but it’s also been done I think discreetly; it’s got to be done quietly, it’s got to be done with great patience, and with great gentleness,” Archbishop Cushley said. “Because there are still people on both sides of this argument who are hurting. And who are looking for answers.”

The archbishop also shared how Scotland has been faring since its Sept. 18 referendum on independence, noted how a new marriage preparation program in his diocese is becoming a model for the rest of Scotland, and explained the differing personalities of Pope Francis and Benedict XVI, which he learned during his time as a diplomat for the Holy See.

As Scottish citizens voted on the all-important question of independence from the United Kingdom this past September, the country was an exemplar of civility and unity, he said.

“There was a huge turnout, it was a robust but a friendly and a democratic debate. It went very well indeed. Many, many people participated,” he said.

“Many countries tear themselves to shreds on this very subject. But we managed to do this without a civil war. In fact, even better than that, we managed to do it without anything close to that.”

“A few eggs were thrown,” he quipped.

Ahead of the ordinary Synod on the Family being held in October, the archdiocese has also created a new marriage preparation program for couples – a coincidence, Archbishop Cushley said. The new program was needed right away.

“What happened was there had been a Catholic marriage service for the whole of Scotland, and it had gradually become independent. And it was being part funded by the state, and so it was no longer Catholic.”

“One day we woke up and discovered it was no longer serving our purposes.”

“We’re still tweaking it,” he said. “There are one or two things about it that I’d like to make stronger.”

Another diocese is already taking notice, though. “We all now need it in Scotland,” he affirmed.

Before his appointment as Edinburgh's archbishop, Cushley served as a diplomat for the Holy See in places as disparate as New York City and Burundi. From his time as a diplomat under both Benedict and Pope Francis, he came to know the popes’ differing personalities and had some anecdotes to share about Pope Francis.

“I’ve compared them again and again in my head, and there was only one thing on the list that set them apart from each other,” he said. “And that was that Pope Benedict was a Bavarian gentleman who was very courteous to people, very correct, and a little bit reserved. He liked people, but he was reserved. Whereas Pope Francis is a much more – the Italians would say a solar personality. He’s much sunnier, he’s much more open.”

Each is a “man of prayer,” he noted. “The thing is one is introverted and one is extroverted, and that for me was almost the most important thing in the day-to-day that I could see between the two.”

Pope Francis now walks daily from his residence at Casa Santa Marta to the apostolic palace, the archbishop said from what he has heard since he left Rome in the summer of 2013.

He included anecdotes of Francis from his brief time working under the Holy Father before his promotion.

“I can remember going into the library where he meets his guests, and he had disappeared this morning. He wasn’t there,” Cushley noted.

“And then I noticed the curtain twitching, and he came from the other side of the curtain. And he said ‘I’m here, it’s okay.’ And he had the rosary in his hand. And he said ‘I was just praying for the people out in the square, I could see them out in St. Peter’s Square.’ And if they had looked up, they would have seen the pope looking up at them, and just telling his beads and saying a prayer for them. And it was just the loveliest, simplest thing to do.”

And what will Francis see when he visits the U.S. next September?

“I am sure that the American Church will give him the warmest of welcomes,” the archbishop said. “And I’m just hoping that he’ll speak a bit of English. That would be nice.”

Europe

Previous Post

January 13, 2015

For refugees, Spanish bishops propose 'a Church without borders'

Next Post

January 14, 2015 Pro-life event designed with a California audience in mind

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Americas Asia - Pacific Europe Middle East - Africa Uncategorized US Vatican

Select a Month November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What specific sin does Paul say is against one's own body?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Sexual immorality Gluttony Self-harm Drunkenness