Gordon Cardinal Gray
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Styles of Cardinal Gordon Gray |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | St. Andrews and Edinburgh |
Cardinal Gordon Joseph Gray (August 10, 1910—July 19, 1993) was a Scottish prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh from 1951 to 1985, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1969, the first Scottish resident Cardinal since the Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy in 1878 and, indeed, since the Reformation.
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[edit] Biography
Gordon Gray was born in Leith to Frank and Angela (née Oddy) Gray. He was the youngest of three children, his siblings being named Josephine and George. After attending Holy Cross Academy in Edinburgh, his uncle John Gray, a canon, suggested that he enter religion. Gordon then studied at St. Joseph's Junior College in East Sussex from 1927 to July 1929, and entered St. John's Seminary in Wonersh in September 1929.
He was ordained to the priesthood by Archbishop Andrew McDonald, OSB, on June 15, 1935, and did pastoral work in St. Andrews and Edinburgh until 1947. Attending St. Andrews University from 1936 to 1939, Gray became the first Catholic priest to graduate there since the Reformation. In 1939 he entered St Mary's University College, Twickenham in London, but his studies were interrupted by the outbreak of World War II. He was later made rector of St. Mary's College in Aberdeen in 1947.
On June 20, 1951, Gray was appointed Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh by Pope Pius XII. He received his episcopal consecration on the following September 21 from Archbishop William Godfrey, with Bishops James Scanlan and Edward Douglas serving as co-consecrators, in St. Mary's Cathedral. From 1962 to 1965, Gray attended the Second Vatican Council.
Pope Paul VI created the Scottish primate Cardinal Priest of S. Chiara a Vigna Clara in the consistory of April 28, 1969, and therefore the first resident cardinal in Scotland since David Beaton, over four centuries earlier. Gray once served as President of the Bishops' Conference of Scotland, and was one of the cardinal electors in the conclaves of August and October 1978, which selected Popes John Paul I and John Paul II respectively. During John Paul II's 1982 visit to the United Kingdom, he officially welcomed the Pope upon his arrival in Scotland. He retired at St. Andrews and Edinburgh's archbishop on May 30, 1985, after thirty-three years of service. Gray was succeeded by Keith Michael O'Brien.
The Cardinal died from a heart ailment in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, at age 82. He is buried in the crypt of St. Mary's Cathedral.
[edit] Trivia
- Gray received all minor orders and the subdiaconate and diaconate from Bishop Peter Amigo.
- In 1977 he became the first cardinal to address the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland.
- The Cardinal once expressed his "grave misgivings" about artificial insemination[1].
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| Preceded by Andrew McDonald |
Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh 1951–1985 |
Succeeded by Keith O'Brien |
