Mario Joseph Conti, son of Louis Joseph
Conti and Josephine Quintilia Conti (ms Panicali) was born at Elgin,
Moray, 20th March 1934.
He was educated at St Marie’s Convent,
Elgin and Springfield School, Elgin and entered the Minor Seminary
of St Mary’s College, Blairs. He was then, in 1952, sent by Bishop
Francis Walsh to the Scots College, Rome, to study for the priesthood
for the Diocese of Aberdeen.
He gained a Licence in Philosophy in 1955 and also in Theology in
1959 both from the Gregorian University, Rome. He was ordained Priest
in the Church of San Marcello al Corso, Rome, by Archbishop Luigi
Traglia on 26th October 1958.
After completing his studies in 1959, he
was appointed Assistant Priest, St Mary’s Cathedral, Aberdeen,
where he remained until he was appointed Parish Priest of St Joachim’s,
Wick and St Anne’s, Thurso in 1962. He was nominated Bishop
of Aberdeen on 28th February 1977, was ordained bishop by His Eminence
Gordon Cardinal Gray, Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, at
Aberdeen on 3rd May 1977.
Archbishop-elect Conti is currently a member
of both the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity
and the Pontifical Council for the Cultural Heritage of the Church.
He is President of the Commission for Christian Doctrine and Unity
of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland and also of their Heritage
Commission. The Archbishop-elect is also a member of the Catholic
Bishops’ Joint Committee for Bio-Ethics and also of the Central
Council of ACTS (Action of Churches Together in Scotland) and is
a President of CTBI (Churches Together in Britain and Ireland).
He also holds the following honours:
Commendatore nell’Ordine al Merito
della Repubblica Italiana, 1981.
Honorary D.D. (University of Aberdeen),
1989.
He is a Knight Commander of the Equestrian
Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem and a Knight of the Order
of St John of Jerusalem Rhodes and Malta, 1991; Principal Chaplain
to the British Association of the Order of Malta, 1995-2000.
He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society
of Edinburgh.
Aberdeen University has appointed Archbishop
Conti as an Honorary Professor of Theology, 2002
He was appointed Archbishop of Glasgow by
His Holiness Pope John Paul II on January 15th 2002 and took possession
of the Archdiocese on Friday 22nd February 2002 in Saint Andrew’s
Cathedral, Glasgow.
