It’s Late!
by Archbishop Mario Conti,
Burns Publications, £13.95
Archbishop Mario Conti, who led the Archdiocese of Glasgow from 2002 to 2012, has subtitled his memoir “Final Pages of a Bishop’s Journal”, following on from his earlier book, Oh Help! The Making of an Archbishop. It records his final three years in office and includes the memorable visit of Benedict XVI to Britain in September 2010.
As can be noted from Archbishop Conti’s titles, he is not bothered by the latest diktat from the Department for Education about avoiding exclamation marks. I counted five in his introduction alone and his book is peppered with them. They give an endearingly optimistic note to his style and thus I approve of them (even though I use them sparingly myself, having once fallen foul of a Latin teacher at school for using them too liberally in an essay on the Aeneid).
What his book provides is insight into the life and duties of a hardworking and conscientious bishop during his time in office. It records many feasts, ordinations, pilgrimages and committee work, as one might expect, but also some more light-hearted occasions when Archbishop Conti is on holiday.
As the grandson of Italian migrants to Scotland, the archbishop is proud of his Italian ancestry, admitting that his written and reading command of Italian is better than his “spoken fluency [which] still eludes me most of the time!” He once won a week’s holiday in Viareggio from a raffle ticket bought in Ayr. This included driving with a companion to Rome from Pisa, when the archbishop’s nerves at driving on the Italian motorway did not stop him doing the journey, though he had to remind himself not “to allow my Italian genes to become too excited”.
Archbishop Conti’s love of history is evident in his remarks about his travels. On a trip to America in 2009, he is deeply impressed by Ellis Island and the museum dedicated to the thousands of immigrants who passed through it. His tastes in art are conservative: the modern art in the Guggenheim Museum in New York did not appeal.
There are many references to his family in these pages. We learn that one lot of grandparents who settled in Birmingham might actually have witnessed the funeral of Blessed John Henry Newman in 1890. His father owned two shops in Elgin, where he grew up and where, as a boy, he would roam with friends in the surrounding woods, looking for birds’ nests; then they would make a bonfire and roast potatoes on it. He also mentions that he designed his sister’s wedding dress.
His love for Scotland and its Catholic history comes across very clearly. During Benedict XVI’s visit he told the Holy Father that “Scotland is the Special Daughter of the Roman Church”, adding that “I never miss a chance of mentioning it!”
The memoir also reveals that his vocation to the priesthood came early and has been a constant source of joy and fulfilment. He remarks that “Many a vocation to the priesthood has in some way been initiated and encouraged by the early experience of serving in the sanctuary and helping the priest.
I can vouch for that myself.” He is also comfortable in the company of his fellow clergymen, indicating that when they get together there is “a gentle ribbing. We talk of liturgy, the training of priests, economic problems connected with marriage, the political scene at home.”
Archbishop Conti’s memoir is enlivened by his self-deprecating sense of humour, as when he writes that he once wore the cappa magna when Bishop of Aberdeen: “It was a most awkward vestment to get in and out of and when my mother remarked that I looked like Punch, vanity ensured that it was never used again!”
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