Mario Conti
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- "Mario Conti" redirects here; for the Brazilian journalist see Mario Sergio Conti.
The Most Reverend Mario Conti is the current Roman Catholic Archbishop of Glasgow, based around Glasgow, Scotland.
Mario Joseph Conti was born on 20 March 1934, in Elgin, Moray, son of Louis Joseph Conti and Josephine Quintilia Conti (nee Panicali). He studied for the priesthood at The Scots College, Rome and was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Aberdeen in the Church of San Marcello al Corso, by Archbishop Luigi Traglia on 26 October 1958.
After a period as Assistant Priest at St Mary's Cathedral in Aberdeen, Fr Conti served as parish priest of the most northerly Roman Catholic parish in the UK mainland, St Joachim's and St Anne's (Wick and Thurso respectively) in Caithness from 1962 to 1977. He was appointed bishop of Aberdeen on the 28 February 1977, succeeding Michael Foylan. He was consecrated to that post by Gordon Cardinal Gray on 3 May 1977.He was awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity honoris causa by the University of Aberdeen in 1989, being the first Catholic priest to be so honoured since the Reformation.
Bishop Conti was elevated to the archdiocese of Glasgow on the 15 January 2002, succeeding the late Cardinal Winning. He took possession of the archdiocese on 22 February 2002. Pope John Paul II bestowed the Pallium on Archbishop Conti on 29 June 2004, the Feast of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Archbishop Conti is a member of the Pontifical Council for Promoting Christian Unity.
[edit] In the media
In 2004, he accused the BBC of "rudeness and prejudice" in its coverage of the Roman Catholic church and of "gross insensitivity" at the time of Pope John Paul II's silver jubilee. He said that the 25th anniversary of the pontificate of Pope John Paul II and the beatification of Mother Teresa had been marked with a documentary entitled Sex and the Holy City, which looked at the effectiveness of condoms in the fight against Aids. He also questioned the plans to broadcast a cartoon called Popetown, which satirised the Pope as a childish pensioner and he accused Newsnight Scotland of conducting a "sneering and aggressive" interview on the church's position on shared campus schools. The National Secular Society described the claims as "grossly anti-democratic and dangerous". A spokesperson for the BBC said: "We are always keen to ensure that all faiths are reflected across our output and are reported accurately.[1].
He has also called on MSPs to reject the Civil Partnerships (Scotland) Bill, which would provide unmarried couples in "committed" relationships with equality in areas like inheritance, pensions and bereavement saying, "It is not homophobia and we have no gripe against homosexuals per se but we believe that the homosexual relationship is subversive." [2]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Church accuses BBC of 'prejudice'. Retrieved on 3 September 2006.
- ^ Archbishops 'Reject gay rights move'. Retrieved on 6 August 2006.
| Preceded by Thomas Cardinal Winning |
Archbishop of Glasgow 2002–present |
Incumbent |
