The Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen ( la, Dioecesis Aberdonensis) is a

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, pro ...

of the

Latin Rite Latin liturgical rites, or Western liturgical rites, are Catholic rites of public worship employed by the Latin Church, the largest particular church ''sui iuris'' of the Catholic Church, that originated in Europe where the Latin language once ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

Foundation

The see is the successor of that founded in 1012 at Mortlach by Beyn, which was moved to Aberdeen, by Bishop

Nechtan of Aberdeen Nechtan of Aberdeen is the first Bishop of Aberdeen after the seat of the bishopric had been moved to Aberdeen from Mortlach. The only contemporary sources for Bishop Nechtan are charters; he appears as "Nectan escob Abberdeon" in a Gaelic cha ...

in April 1132, during the reign of King

David I of Scotland David I or Dauíd mac Maíl Choluim (Modern: ''Daibhidh I mac haoilChaluim''; – 24 May 1153) was a 12th-century ruler who was Prince of the Cumbrians from 1113 to 1124 and later King of Scotland from 1124 to 1153. The youngest son of Malcolm ...

. The earliest mention of the see as that of Aberdeen is in the charter of the foundation, by the Earl of Buchan, of the Church of Deer (c. 1152), which is witnessed by Nectan, Bishop of Aberdeen. The first ecclesiastical record of the see is in a papal bull of

Pope Adrian IV Pope Adrian IV ( la, Adrianus IV; born Nicholas Breakspear (or Brekespear); 1 September 1159, also Hadrian IV), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 4 December 1154 to his death in 1159. He is the only Englishman t ...

(1157), confirming to Bishop Edward the churches of Aberdeen and Saint Machar, with the town of Old Aberdeen and other lands. The granite cathedral was built between 1272 and 1277. Bishop Thomas Spence founded a Franciscan house in 1480, and King's College was founded at Old Aberdeen by Bishop Elphinstone, for eight prebendaries, chapter, sacristan, organist, and six choristers, in 1505. The see was transferred to Old Aberdeen about 1125, and continued there until 1577, having had in that time a list of twenty-nine bishops.

Restoration of the Diocese

The Scottish Church officially broke allegiance with the Roman church in 1560, but continued intermittently having bishops until 1689. On 4 March 1878,

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

restored the hierarchy of Scotland by the

Bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

''Ex supremo Apostolatus apice'' and Vicar-Apostolic John MacDonald was translated to the restored See of Aberdeen as its first bishop. The Bull made Aberdeen one of the four suffragan sees of the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and Edinburgh, and defined as its territory "the counties of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Kincardine Kincardine may refer to: Places Scotland *Kincardine, Fife, a town on the River Forth, Scotland **Kincardine Bridge, a bridge which spans the Firth of Forth *Kincardineshire, a historic county **Kincardine, Aberdeenshire, now abandoned **Kincardi ...

, Banff, Elgin or

Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...

Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...

Ross Ross or ROSS may refer to: People * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan * Ross (name), including a list of people with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Earl of Ross, a peerage of Scotland Places * RoSS, the Republic of Sou ...

(except

Lewis Lewis may refer to: Names * Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name * Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname Music * Lewis (musician), Canadian singer * "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...

in the

Hebrides The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebrid ...

Cromarty Cromarty (; gd, Cromba, ) is a town, civil parish and former royal burgh in Ross and Cromarty, in the Highland area of Scotland. Situated at the tip of the Black Isle on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, it is seaward from In ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

, the

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and

Shetland Islands Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

, and that portion of

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

which lies to the north of a straight line drawn from the most northerly point of Loch Luing to the eastern boundary of the said county of Inverness, where the counties of Aberdeen and Banff join."

Early Twentieth Century

In 1906 there were nearly 4,000 Catholics out of a population of 800,000. The clergy consisted of 48

secular priest In Christianity, the term secular clergy refers to deacons and priests who are not monastics or otherwise members of religious life. A secular priest (sometimes known as a diocesan priest) is a priest who commits themselves to a certain geogr ...

s, 24 regular priests, 57 churches, chapels, and stations; and various schools. There was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

Fort Augustus Fort Augustus is a settlement in the parish of Boleskine and Abertarff, at the south-west end of Loch Ness, Scottish Highlands. The village has a population of around 646 (2001). Its economy is heavily reliant on tourism. History The Gaeli ...

which had been raised to the rank of an abbey, immediately subject to the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

, by a brief of Leo XIII on 12 December 1882. Its building was made possible by the financial backing of

Lord Lovat Lord Lovat ( gd, Mac Shimidh) is a title of the rank Lord of Parliament in the Peerage of Scotland. It was created in 1458 for Hugh Fraser, 1st Lord Lovat, Hugh Fraser by summoning him to the Scottish Parliament as Lord Fraser of Lovat, altho ...

Twenty First Century

The current bishop of the diocese is the Right Reverend

Hugh Gilbert Hugh Gilbert OSB (born 15 March 1952) is an English Catholic Benedictine monk who currently serves as the Bishop of Aberdeen. He previously served as the Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey, of which he is a member, also in Scotland. Life Early life On ...

OSB. In area the diocese is approximately one fifth of the land mass of Scotland. Proportionately it has the smallest Catholic population of any diocese in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. In 2006 the Catholic population of 20,000 out of a total population of 700,000 (2.9%) was served by 44 priests and 12 deacons in 41 parishes.

Bishops

Past and present ordinaries

The following is a list of the modern Bishops of Aberdeen and its precursor offices: ;Vicars Apostolic of the Highland District *

Alexander John Grant Alexander John Grant (1693 – 19 September 1727) was a Roman Catholic clergyman who briefly served as the vicar apostolic of the Highland District, Scotland. Educated at the Scots College in Rome, he was appointed the first vicar apostolic o ...

(appointed 16 September 1727 – died 19 September 1727) *

Hugh MacDonald Hugh John Macdonald (born 31 January 1940 in Newbury, Berkshire) is an English musicologist chiefly known for his work within the music of the 19th century, especially in France. He has been general editor of the ''Hector Berlioz: New Edition of ...

(appointed 12 February 1731 – died 12 March 1773) * John MacDonald (succeeded 12 March 1773 – died 9 May 1779) * Alexander MacDonald (appointed 30 September 1779 – died 9 September 1791) * John Chisholm (appointed 8 November 1791 – died 8 July 1814) * Aeneas Chisholm (succeeded 8 July 1814 – died 31 July 1818) *

Ranald MacDonald Ranald MacDonald (February 3, 1824 – August 24, 1894) was the first native English-speaker to teach the English language in Japan, including educating Einosuke Moriyama, one of the chief interpreters to handle the negotiations between Co ...

(appointed 27 August 1819 – translated to the Western District 13 February 1827) ;Vicars Apostolic of the Northern District * James Kyle (appointed 13 February 1827 – died 23 February 1869) * John MacDonald (succeeded 23 February 1869 – became Bishop of Aberdeen 15 March 1878) ;Bishops of Aberdeen * John MacDonald (appointed 15 March 1878 – died 4 February 1889) * Colin Grant (appointed 16 July 1889 – died 26 September 1889) *

, C.SS.R. (appointed 14 August 1890 – died 29 May 1898) * Aeneas Chisholm (appointed 7 January 1899 – died 13 January 1918) *

George Henry Bennett George Henry Bennett (18508 September 1908) was a brewer and a politician. Bennett was born in Buckie, Banffshire, Scotland. His family emigrated to Australia in 1855. He managed the Victoria Sugar Co. and later, with a partner, owned Excelsi ...

(appointed 18 June 1918 – died 25 December 1946) *

John Alexander Matheson John Alexander Matheson (1901–1950) was a Roman Catholic clergyman who served as the Bishop of Aberdeen from 1947 to 1950. Born in Tomintoul, Moray on 28 April 1901, he was educated at St Mary's College, Blairs 1916-1919 and the Scots Colleg ...

(appointed 2 August 1947 – died 5 July 1950) *

Francis Raymond Walsh Francis Raymond Walsh, M. Afr., (15 September 1901– 27 October 1974) was a Roman Catholic clergyman who served as the Bishop of Aberdeen from 1951 to 1963. Biography Born in Cirencester, Gloucestershire, England on 15 September 1901, he w ...

, M. Afr. (appointed 20 June 1951 – resigned 22 July 1963) *

Michael Foylan Michael Foylan (29 June 1907 – 28 May 1976) was a Scottish clergyman who served as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Aberdeen from 1964 to 1976. Born in Shettleston, Glasgow, Lanarkshire in June 1907, he was ordained a priest on 5 July 1931 for ...

(appointed 8 December 1964 – died 28 May 1976) * Mario Joseph Conti (appointed 28 February 1977 – translated to the

Archdiocese of Glasgow The Archdiocese of Glasgow was one of the thirteen (after 1633 fourteen) dioceses of the Scottish church. It was the second largest diocese in the Kingdom of Scotland, including Clydesdale, Teviotdale, parts of Tweeddale, Liddesdale, Annanda ...

15 January 2002) * Peter Antony Moran (appointed 13 October 2003 - resigned 4 June 2011) *

OSB (incumbent, appointed 4 June 2011)

Coadjutor Vicars Apostolic

* Aeneas Chisholm (1804-1814) * John MacDonald (1761-1773) * John MacDonald (1868-1869)

Other priest of this diocese who became bishop

* Robert Fraser, appointed Bishop of Dunkeld in 1913

References

External links

Diocese of Aberdeen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aberdeen

Christianity in Aberdeen

Religious organisations based in Scotland

Roman Catholic Ecclesiastical Province of St Andrews and Edinburgh