Scottish Catholic Observer

Mgr Basil O’Sullivan, parish priest of Holy Family Church, Dunblane, has been appointed administrator to run Dunkeld Diocese until the new bishop is named.

Mgr O’Sullivan (above), 80, a senior priest in the diocese, is a Canon lawyer and is Provost of the Cathedral Chapter. He celebrated the golden jubilee of his ordination to the priesthood in 2006 and has helped Catholics in Dunkeld through tough times, including the Dunblane massacre in 1996.

“Waiting in the school we had no idea of what was happening outside and how the school was being inundated with love and sympathy from people everywhere,” he said on the tenth anniversary of the school shootings.

“All Dunblane was being loved and prayed for by good people all over the world. People from the media would ask where God was that morning. The strange thing was that no one on the ground, the people I was dealing with, no one asked me that question.”

The news of Mgr O’Sullivan’s appointment follows the announcement by the Vatican at the weekend that Pope Benedict XVI had officially accepted the resignation of Bishop Vincent Logan of Dunkeld. His successor as bishop has not yet been chosen.

Bishop Logan was only 39 when he was elected Bishop of Dunkeld in 1981, at that time one of the youngest bishops in the world. He has led the diocese for the last 31 years and, at the age of 71, is stepping down four years earlier than would normally be the case because of his health problems.

“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to serve the priests, religious and people of Dunkeld over the last 31 years,” Bishop Logan said. “I have enjoyed their loyalty and support and I am most grateful for that.

“It has been a pleasure, too, to be involved in the wider community in the areas which the diocese covers and I thank everyone with whom I have worked over the years.

“I feel sure everyone will offer my successor the same commitment and support I have enjoyed and I wish him, whoever he is, my prayers and good wishes.”

Paying tribute to Bishop Logan, former Vicar General Mgr Ken McCaffrey said: “Bishop Vincent has made a huge contribution to the life of the Church, both at local and national level, over the last three decades.

“Even with his health issues over the last few years he has continued to dedicate himself to the priests and people of the diocese. We assure him of our prayers that he might enjoy better health in his retirement.

“He is much loved and respected by priests and people alike, and on behalf of the Catholic community in Dunkeld I offer him our thanks for all he has done and assure him of our prayers and good wishes as he begins this new chapter in his life and ministry.”