Archbishop of Glasgow

The Bishop of Glasgow, from 1492 Archbishop of Glasgow, was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Glasgow and then, as Archbishop of Glasgow, the Archdiocese of Glasgow. Today he is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Metropolitan Archdiocese of Glasgow.

The bishopric as a functional Glasgow institution originates in the period of the reign of David I, Prince of the Cumbrians, but the earliest attested bishops come from the 11th century, appointees of the Archbishop of York. The seat of the bishops and archbishops was at Glasgow Cathedral until 1688. After the Scottish church broke its links with Rome in 1560, the Archbishopric continued under the independent Scottish church until 1689 when Episcopacy in the Church of Scotland was finally abolished, requiring continuity to occur in the disestablished Scottish Episcopal Church.

In the following centuries Roman Catholicism slowly began a process of re-introduction, culminating in 1829 with legalisation through the Catholic Emancipation Act. A new papally-appointed archbishopric was introduced when the Vicariate Apostolic of the Western District was elevated to archdiocese status on 4 March 1878 on the Restoration of the Scottish hierarchy, and then to Metropolitan archdiocese status on 25 May 1947.

The current archbishop is His Grace the Most Reverend Mario Conti, Metropolitan Archbishop of Glasgow.

List of bishops of Glasgow

List of archbishops of Glasgow

List of the Archbishops of the restored Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow, Scotland

The archdiocese covers an area of 1,165 km². The Metropolitan See is in the City of Glasgow where the seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Andrew.

(Any dates appearing in italics indicate de facto continuation of office. The start date of tenure below is the date of appointment or succession. Where known, the date of installation and ordination as bishop are listed in the notes together with the post held prior to appointment.)

References

• Dowden, John, The Bishops of Scotland, ed. J. Maitland Thomson, (Glasgow, 1912)
• Keith, Robert, An Historical Catalogue of the Scottish Bishops: Down to the Year 1688, (London, 1824)
• Lawrie, Sir Archibald, Early Scottish Charters Prior to A.D. 1153, (Glasgow, 1905)
• Watt, D. E. R. & Murray, A. L., editors, Fasti Ecclesiae Scoticanae Medii Aevi Ad Annum 1638, revised edition, Scottish Record Society, Edinburgh, 2003, p. 187-196. ISBN 0-902054-19-8

See also

• Catholicism in Scotland
• Presbytery of Glasgow (Church of Scotland)
• Bishops in the Church of Scotland