The Catholic Church in Scotland is preparing for sweeping changes following the departure of Bishop Joseph Devine of Motherwell and with the appointment of a new Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh expected this month.
The Vatican accepted the resignation of Bishop Devine last week, before a permanent replacement had been found, leaving the Church in Scotland with four dioceses without a bishop of their own.
The Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh and the Diocese of Motherwell are both led by apostolic administrators, Archbishop Philip Tartaglia of Glasgow and Bishop Toal respectively. Administrators appointed from within the dioceses lead Paisley and Dunkeld.
Archbishop Antonio Mennini, Apostolic Nuncio to Britain, told the BBC that he hoped a replacement for Cardinal Keith O’Brien, who resigned in February after admitting sexual misconduct, would be found this month.
Archbishop Mennini added that the cardinal had “done a lot of good for the Church”. He said: “We cannot judge the cardinal only for these very serious events, because in every person there is black and white, we have positive and negative.”
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