Scottish Catholic Observer

The Mass celebrated the life of a bishop who is widely recognised as being responsible in many ways for the recovery of the Catholic Church in Scotland following the Reformation—and an exhibition of the bishop has recently been opened at Blairs’ Museum.

Speaking in his homily, Archbishop Conti, former Bishop of Aberdeen, reminded those gathered that they had ‘come to thank God for this enormously important figure, whose life was as varied as it was fruitful’ and referred to Bishop Hay as ‘a giant of the revival of the Faith in our homeland.’

In reflecting on the day’s readings, the archbishop said that Bishop Hay’s life could be mirrored in the words of St Paul.

“[Bishop] Hay of course knew exactly what it was like to be ‘chained like a criminal’ on account of his beliefs,” Archbishop Conti said. “He was imprisoned both in Edinburgh and London after his medical service with the Jacobite armies of Bonnie Prince Charlie and of his clear sympathies for the Stuart cause.

“Who can say, whether it was that encounter with the faith of so many Jacobite soldiers which led to his own conversion, the year after his release from prison, from Episcopalianism to Catholicism, but history records his being received into the Catholic Church just a few days before Christmas 1748.

“What is very probable is that he owed his vocation to the priesthood to his encounters with the famous Bishop Richard Challoner whom he met in 1750 in London. Within a year he had enrolled in the Pontifical Scots College in Rome to study for the priesthood and his life’s course had been definitively set.”

The archbishop went on to speak about Bishop Hay’s return to Scotland at a very troubled time for Catholic Faithful.

“It was that zeal to spread the Faith that led him to transfer the centre of the Church in Scotland away from the Highlands, to Aberdeen and then to Edinburgh,” Archbishop Conti said. “His foresight was legendary, and to this day the Church in Scotland is benefitting from his shrewd financial decisions.”

The archbishop also spoke of the bishops’ many writings, which ‘helped shape Catholicism in this land of ours.’

Following Saturday’s Mass, many of those present took time to visit the Bishop Hay exhibition at Blairs’ Museum, where Ian Forbes, museum manager, shared many interesting anecdotes on the bishop’s life.

“It was a very special day and I think our event was the only one in Scotland marking the bi-centenary of Bishop Hay’s death,” Mr Forbes said. “One hundred years ago, the hierarchy of Scotland gathered at Fort Augustus to mark the centenary of the bishop’s death. The Archbishop of Glasgow was the only member of the hierarchy not present, he couldn’t attend due to ill-health that day so we were pleased and it was ironic that Archbishop Conti represented the hierarchy at the bi-centenary.”

Mr Forbes added that a popular item at the Bishop Hay exhibition at Blairs is a 17th century violin, which belonged to the bishop, and for which a local violin restorer has volunteered his services.