Scottish Catholic Observer

When Cardinal Keith O’Brien and Bishop Philip Tartaglia were in Rome over the weekend of the Feast of Christ the King, they celebrated an important anniversary in the life of Bishop Tartaglia—the fifth anniversary of his Episcopal Ordination.

Granted that later on the day of the Feast of Christ the King they would be together at the ‘Mass of the Rings’ in St Peter’s Basilica, they decided to concelebrate a Thanksgiving Mass in the Crypt of the Pontifical Scots College. The altar they chose was the altar described as ‘St Ninian’s Altar’ because of the very beautiful mosaic in place behind the altar itself. Letters on the mosaic picked out those very beautiful words concerning St Ninian and noted the fact that having been ordained a bishop in Rome, he was sent back to Scotland as a bishop to his native land  some 1600 years ago.

At the present time, there are 22 students for the priesthood at the Pontifical Scots College with the Rector Fr John Hughes, Vice-Rector Fr Francis Dougan and Spiritual Director Fr John Eagers.

The Glasgow-founded Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception are now well settled into the routine of the college life, with Sister Raphael OSF being the Superior of the Community.

Sisters from Nigeria and Kenya, who are members of the same congregation, namely Sister Stella Maris, Sister Stella and Sister Juliana also help in the seminary and regularly welcome other sisters from Scotland—including on this occasion, Sister Francesca OSF.

During the course of their visit, the guests took the opportunity of visiting the recently-dedicated website of the Pontifical Scots College.

As well as keeping members of staff and students up to date with all that is going on in the world, it also gives a wonderful outreach from the college to other parts of the world, but particularly to Scotland itself. Over the months and years it is hoped that it will be an invaluable ‘promoter of vocations’ to the priesthood, giving an insight into all that continues at the college to those who might be interested in a vocation whether in late secondary school, at college or university, or those who have already been working for some years.

Clergy and students at the college were greatly looking forward to St Andrew’s Day, a day of special festivity for the College, and many distinguished guests and friends were due to come to Mass, including Mr Francis Campbell, British Ambassador to the Holy See, to whom the College planned to make a presentation during lunch to mark his service in Rome, which is coming to an end very soon, and to acknowledge the role he played in the diplomacy of the Pope’s visit to the UK.

Five Scottish priests, former pupils of the College, who are celebrating  25 years of priestly ordination, also attended (above right).  They are Fr Gerard Tartaglia; Mgr William McFadden (Galloway Diocese); Fr Michael McMahon (Paisley Diocese); Fr Paul Morton (Motherwell Diocese), and Mgr Leo Cushley (Motherwell Diocese, now working in the Vatican’s Secretariat of State). Mgr Cushley was part of the Pope’s staff during his visit to the UK.

Cardinal O’Brien’s homily from capital

Celebration of the feast of St Andrew, St Mary’s Cathedral Edinburgh

Over the past 2000 years reverence has been paid to St Andrew, brother of Simon Peter, one of that first group of Apostles called by Jesus Himself to follow Him and to become ‘fishers of men.’

Others valiantly took that same teaching of Jesus Christ throughout the world.  This year, of course, in a special way we thought of St Ninian, who some 1600 years ago, handed on the Gospel at Whithorn in Galloway—just as in our own time, Pope Benedict XVI handed on that same Gospel here in our midst.

As is well known a great shrine developed at St Andrews in Fife where major relics of that great apostle were preserved and soon a magnificent cathedral was built in St Andrews with it becoming the Primatial See in Scotland. One can imagine the pilgrimages which must have taken place in those far off centuries with people travelling not only from all over Scotland but from all over Europe to pay homage at the shrine of St Andrews in the town itself now linked with our capital city of Edinburgh in my own title as the present Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

In my words today I want to dwell on two things in particular: Our archdiocesan seminary dedicated to St Andrew and once situated at Drygrange in the Borders; and then that event to which I have already referred the visit of Pope Benedict to Scotland and his call to us to follow in the tradition of those early fathers of our Faith.

St Andrew’s College, Drygrange

I have already mentioned those early pilgrimages and celebrations in honour of St Andrew. With the establishment of St Andrews College at Drygrange as the Senior Seminary of the Archdiocese in September 1953 there was again a focal point for the celebration of St Andrews Day in our Archdiocese. Members of staff and students, as well as those priests ordained from St Andrews’ College down through the years of its existence, gathered together for the celebration of Mass and ongoing discussion afterwards proud to remember what their seminary had meant to them.

On thinking of what the seminary inculcated in to  me personally following on now my 45 years of priesthood with 25 of them being archbishop of this diocese and the last seven spent as a cardinal I would single out three things: First of all a love of the diocese and the people in it itself spreading from the north of Fife to the south of the Borders, and from east of Edinburgh to within 10 miles of Glasgow on the West; I think the seminary also inculcated in to me the value of outreach from the seminary itself in to the society in which we live while having concern for outreach also in to the developing world; and basic to those two things I think the seminary also inspired me with an ongoing desire to serve—serving God Himself as best I could as well as serving others to whom I was to be sent.

Reaching this particular anniversary in my life as a priest namely the silver jubilee of my ordination as a bishop I renew my affection for my alma mater on this occasion—as we now celebrate the Feast of St Andrew here in our Metropolitan Cathedral year by year continuing with our outreach to our diocese and calling together not only the priests of our own archdiocese but those ordained for other dioceses and countries who wish to join us on these celebrations.

Pope Benedict’s call

Initially thinking of the ways in which the Word of God was handed on to me and to my fellow seminarians at St Andrews College itself has also encouraged me to think of how we hand on that same word of God at this present time.

In that letter to the Romans St Paul speaks of the words of the preacher indicating that: “Their voice has gone out through all the earth and their message to the ends of the world.”  That is indeed what happened when Pope Benedict was here with us preaching not only to our Catholic community but to the whole society of the United Kingdom with his words being broadcast and listened to throughout our world.

At the Palace of Holyroodhouse the Pope said: “The Christian message has been an integral part of the language, thought and culture of the peoples of these islands for more than 1000 years!”  And at that wonderful celebration of Mass at Bellahouston Park the Pope stated: “Today’s Gospel reminds us that Christ continues to send His disciples into the world in order to proclaim the coming of His Kingdom and to being His peace into the world, beginning house by house, family by family, town by town.”

Then in the great Westminster Hall in the Palace of Westminster the Pope proclaimed: “Religion is not a problem for legislators to solve, but a vital contributor to the national conversation… there are worrying signs of a failure to appreciate not only the rights of believers to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, but also the legitimate role of religion in the public square.”

Consequently that same call with which Jesus sent out to His Apostles: “Go and teach all nations!”  must still echo in our own hearts and minds, priest or lay, male or female, young or old.”

By virtue of our baptism in to the Body of Jesus Christ we too have that same responsibility of Peter and Andrew, of James and John and of the other apostles to continue living our Faith and handing it on.

Standards

We live in the midst of a world so often seeking and crying out for standards of morality, standards by which they can educate themselves and their young people, standards through which they hope to reach out to those of other nations near and far.

The words of the Gospel, the words of Jesus Christ are still the same—they must be grasped by ourselves and loved by ourselves so that the continued preaching of the Gospel will indeed continue until the end of time.

Bishop Tartaglia’s homily from Rome

Feast of St Andrew,

Scots College Rome

Gathered together in the Chapel of the Scots College, Rome, dedicated to St Andrew and whose statues and stained glass windows honour the great Apostle himself, as well as other Scottish saints, Ninian, Columba, Margaret and John Ogilvie, and which remind us of so many key episodes in the history of the Church in Scotland going back some 1600 years, I want first of all to thank the rector, Fr John Hughes, for his kind invitation to me to preside at Mass on the Feast of St Andrew. Having been a seminarian here myself, a post-graduate priest, member of staff, and more recently rector of the college, I know how significant today’s feast is in the life of the college, and I gladly convey to the rector, staff, students, sisters and employees of the college the prayerful good wishes of the Bishops’ Conference and of the Catholic community of Scotland for this St Andrew’s Day. I am pleased also to acknowledge the presence of five priests, former students of the college, who are celebrating this year the 25th anniversary of their priestly ordination, to whom we offer our warmest congratulations, asking the Lord to continue to bless their lives and their ministry in the land which is proud to claim St Andrew the Apostle as her patron saint. I also acknowledge the presence here today of distinguished guests and friends of the Scots College Rome.

The Gospel tells us that Andrew was the brother of Peter, and that together they were called by the Lord to follow Him. “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” Jesus said. And that scene is depicted on the mural painted so beautifully in the atrium of this chapel, as if to say to each seminarian and priest, who passes daily beneath it: “YOU come follow me and I will make you a fisher of men.” And that is the call addressed to each of you present-day seminarians of this college, as it was to generations of seminarians in the past. With St Andrew praying for you, I hope that you will be able to give a positive, joyful and willing answer to the Lord. I can promise you that you will not regret it, for the life of a priest is deeply blessed. God loves His priests. Jesus invites you to follow Him intimately and act in His person. Mary and the saints support you and strengthen you with their prayers. The whole Church loves you and needs you. If there is one thing that has emerged from the terrible chastisement of the abuse crisis, it is that the Church loves Her priests and needs them to be holy pastors.

Pontifical Scots College

From very early in the now 410-year history of the Scots College Rome, the college has been dedicated to this mission of forming young men in their response to the Lord’s call to come follow Him as priests for the Church in Scotland. Over the centuries, the mission of this college has been central to the good of the Church in Scotland. In our times, we must implore the Lord unceasingly to grant us candidates who will offer themselves for priestly formation. We must implore the Lord that the men who come through this college’s doors are inspired to answer the call of the Lord to come follow Him in the priesthood and to persevere in faithfulness to that call. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit on the priests who are invited to lead, guide and form this seminary community. And we—and this ‘we’ is the ‘we’ of the Bishops’ Conference and the ‘we’ of the Catholic community in Scotland—we must make sure that the College has the resources it requires so that it may fulfil its mission, which, is important, central, and indeed essential to the good of the Church in Scotland. For they will not believe in the Lord ‘unless they have heard of Him,’ as St Paul famously says in today’s second reading, ‘and they will not hear of Him unless they get a preacher, and they will never have a preacher unless one is sent,’and it is from here, the Scots College Rome, that our new preachers, our new priests, our new pastors of the present and of the future will be sent.

St Andrew

Andrew was the brother of Peter. Once when Pope Paul VI met Cardinal Gordon Joseph Gray of happy memory, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, the Pope said: “Peter greets his brother Andrew.” We are coming to the end of a year which has seen the visit of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to the United Kingdom and to Scotland. As you know, the Pope’s visit was widely judged to have been a success, for which we are all deeply grateful. The mantle of Peter swept across our land bringing God’s blessings to the whole nation. And dioceses and parishes all over Scotland and the UK have set about the task of prolonging the effect of the Pope’s visit and using his most excellent homilies and addresses as well as the example of his person as a platform for evangelisation and catechesis.

We needed to hear the Successor of Peter uphold the place of faith and of religion in public discourse, and to argue so graciously and convincingly that faith in God is not the enemy of a liberal democracy, but provides the only real foundation for social consensus which has moral depth and protects that consensus from what the Holy Father referred to in his homily in Glasgow as the dictatorship of relativism. But perhaps more than anything, the people of Scotland and of the UK responded to the Pope’s profound, transparent personal faith in Christ. In his words and demeanour and actions, Pope Benedict unfailingly pointed beyond himself to the God of Jesus Christ. People of all faiths and none sensed that and were moved by it. He called us all to a renewed faith and to holiness of life, and this clear and humble witness to Jesus Christ will be perhaps characterise the legacy of his visit.

Once again, then, in coming to Scotland the Successor of Peter greeted his brother Andrew. And on this Feast of St Andrew, I want just to re-address to the seminarians of this college part of the Pope’s message to the young people of Scotland during his homily at Bellahouston Park, words which express the Pope’s personal witness to the Lord of which I have been speaking and which seem especially appropriate for young men in priestly formation: “There is only one thing which lasts: the love of Jesus Christ personally for each one of you. Search for Him, know Him and love Him, and He will set you free from slavery to the glittering but superficial existence frequently proposed by today’s society. Put aside what is worthless and learn of your own dignity as children of God… Jesus asks us to pray for vocations: I pray that many of you will know and love Jesus Christ and, through that encounter, will dedicate yourselves completely to God, especially those of you who are called to the priesthood and religious life. This is the challenge the Lord gives to you today: the Church now belongs to you!” As you seek to respond to the Lord’s call, the same invitation He extended to Peter and Andrew, “Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men,” you can be sure that you are surrounded and embraced by the enduring love of Jesus Christ personally for you.

St Andrew, pray for us.