Scottish Catholic Observer

There was no mistaking how proud the Benedictine monks of Pluscarden were of their former abbot as he was ordained Bishop of Aberdeen Diocese. Their love and respect for him after his 19 years as their superior was clear by their presence and participation in his ordination Mass, as was his for them. And while Aberdeen and Scotland celebrated the latest addition to our Catholic hierarchy on Monday there remained a sense that our gain was their keenly felt loss, in spite of Pluscarden’s election of a very capable successor to Bishop Gilbert in the form of Abbot Anselm Atkinson. That sense of loss was compounded as Bishop Peter Moran spent his last few moments as Bishop of Aberdeen after almost eight years in the role.

One immediate impact from the changes in Aberdeen was the light that it shone on the vital but often overlooked work done in the Catholic community by those in the religious life.

A better understanding of communities such as Pluscarden, so eloquently called the ‘spiritual centre’ of Aberdeen Diocese by Bishop Emeritus Moran, and a greater appreciation of them by lay Catholics would be a great leap forward that could ultimately encourage vocations.

Bishop Gilbert is not the first Superior of Pluscarden to move from the monastery to the episcopate—that precedent was set on May 20 1529 when Pope Clement VII appointed then Prior George Learmond co-adjutor Bishop of Aberdeen with the right of succession. However there is little doubt that the new bishop, whom Sr Roseann Reddy from the Sisters of the Gospel of Life called ‘a lovely man,’ will keep the spiritual heart of his diocese in his own heart as he faces the challenges of his new role.

Pic: Paul McSherry