Scottish Catholic Observer

Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow, the newly elected president of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, has told the country’s Catholics that the New Evangelisation will ‘change our lives.’

“We will need a change of heart, something like what happened to the Apostles at Pentecost,” Archbishop Tartaglia said at Sunday’s national Year of Faith Mass.

Support for Year of Faith

Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell led the celebrations at Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral, welcoming the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Antonio Mennini, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Archbishop Emeritus Mario Conti and many members of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland to the celebration.

The congregation benefited from Archbishop Tartaglia’s experience of attending the recent Synod of Bishops on New Evangelisation in Rome. “We will work this out together with the help of the Holy Spirit,” he said.

The national Year of Faith Mass focused specifically on education and the archbishop directed much of his comments to teachers and young people.

“The world is wounded but God loves it still… Young people, do not be afraid to be Catholic. Do not be afraid of your Faith. You have been given a great gift,” he said.

United front

Bishop Devine welcomed the bishops, clergy and laity to the celebration, mentioning in particular the ‘Herculean effort’ of Cardinal O’Brien to attend the Mass during a period of ill health.

The cardinal, making light of his health concerns, made reference to recent controversy while referring to God’s most important commandment, love.

“It is that Gospel of the love of all peoples that we still hand on today—a love of male and female, a love of black and white, a love of life in the womb and life on the death bed, a love of people of whatever sexual orientation,” he said. “But in sharing the love of Christ we also share the responsibility of learning and handing on the teaching of Christ, a teaching that is so often sadly neglected at this present time.”

The cardinal spoke of the Second Vatican Council children and grandchildren in our Catholic communities, and the new generation of bishops in Scotland.

Walking together

The closing of the Holy Father’s Apostolic letter for the Year of Faith was read at the Mass.

“May this Year of Faith make our relationship with Christ the Lord increasingly firm, since only in Him is there the certitude for looking to the future and the guarantee of an authentic and lasting love.” Pope Benedict XVI said.

Archbishop Mennini also spoke at the Mass in Motherwell.

He told Scottish Catholics everyone would ‘walk together through this Year of Faith’ and wished all a ‘good walk.’

After the Mass, the nuncio met with teachers and education officials.

Pic: Paul McSherry