Scottish Catholic Observer

Pope Francis has appointed Mgr Leo Cushley, 52, a senior Vatican diplomat from Motherwell Diocese, as the new Archbishop of St Andrew and Edinburgh.

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow, who has been serving as St Andrew and Edinburgh Archdiocese’s apostolic administrator since Cardinal Keith O’Brien’s retirement in March, introduced the Archbishop-elect this morning at the Gillis Centre in Edinburgh.

Mgr Cushley, a very experienced Vatican diplomat and priest of Motherwell Diocese, has been serving as head of the English-language section of the Vatican’s Secretariat of State. He has worked very closely with both Pope Benedict XVI (above) and Pope Francis.

Mgr Cushley said he was ‘humbled that our Holy Father Pope Francis has nominated me for such an important task here in our ancient capital.’

Ordained in 1985, Mgr Cushley was asked to work in Rome the Holy See in 1993 and has served the Holy See’s Diplomatic Service since 1997.

The Archbishop-elect will now surrender his distinctive Vatican number plate as well as his diplomatic passport. His Episcopal ordination as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh will take place in St Mary’s Cathedral in Edinburgh on September 21.

“I have no jurisdiction in the diocese until after I have been ordained in late September,” he said this morning. “Only then will I be able to take stock of what has happened and see what can be done.”

Mgr Cushley was born in Aidrie, Lanarkshire, ordained to the priesthood in 1985. He served at St Aidan’s Parish, Wishaw, St Serf’s Parish, Airdrie and Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral, Motherwell, before beginning work to in Rome.

Nigel Baker, the British Ambassador to the Holy See, congratulated Mgr Cushley, on his appointment as Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

“This is an important and timely appointment of great significance for Scotland and the Scottish Catholic Church,” Mr Baker said. “The British Embassy to the Holy See enjoys an excellent relationship with the English Language Section of the Secretariat of State of His Holiness, which Monsignor Cushley has led in recent years.

“I congratulate him on his appointment, wish him well in his new role, and look forward to working with him in the future.”

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Pic: Paul McSherry. Mgr Cushley (above right) presented his nephew to Pope Benedict XVI during the Holy Father during visit to Scotland in 2010 during which the monsignor travelled with the Pope.