Roman Catholic Bishop Sets Out his Ecumenical Agenda in the Highland Capital
The Rev. Donald M. Boyd
ON Sabbath, 21st January 1996, Mario Conti, the Roman Catholic bishop of Aberdeen, delivered his ecumenical message in the main Church of Scotland congregation in Inverness, the capital of the Scottish Highlands.
It was “The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity.” Following so closely in the wake of the Queen’s first attendance at Westminster Cathedral and her recent appointment of a Roman Catholic chaplain, Conti’s remarks have an added significance. So also does the venue, for although Conti had spoken about 10 years earlier in another Inverness congregation of the Church of Scotland, on this occasion he was addressing the Old High Church congregation, considered to be the oldest and principal Church of Scotland congregation in the town.
Conti’s views are not foursquare with papal views. For example, in 1992 he called for serious consideration of the ordination of married men to the Roman priesthood. There is a shortage of priests in his diocese in the north and north east; in 1992 there were only 36 priests covering the area, and many of these were in their 60s. Yet he is the President of the RC Commission on Doctrine and Unity, and he is on a Papal Commission which allows him access to a regular audience with the pope of Rome.
Furthermore, Conti is in the forefront of the ecumenical movement in Scotland. He was appointed the first Convener of Action of Churches Together in Scotland (ACTS), probably in recognition that this organisation brought the Roman Catholics into formal membership of the ecumenical movement for the first time2. To mark the occasion he wrote an article in the Church of Scotland magazine in which he brazenly set forth the Roman Catholic theology of baptismal regeneration as something to be mutually accepted: “It is this sharing of common ground in Christ – the recognising from our several parts that our lives ‘are hid with God in Christ’ [sic], the mutual acceptance of the sacrament of baptism whereby we are born again through Christ – that provides the true basis for ecumenism, of that ‘promoting of the restoration of unity among all Christians’ in which we believe ourselves engaged.” Not only does he misquote Colossians 3:3, (the Bible never was a Romanist’s strong point), but as far as I could ascertain there was no reference to this shocking statement in the letters column over the next six months3.
So in Conti’s opinion, the ecumenical movement is rooted in the Roman theology of baptismal regeneration. This bold declaration is probably strengthened by the Romeward direction of Church of Scotland theology. This was noted in a former issue of The Free Presbyterian Magazine, in which I showed that the Church of Scotland position on paedocommunion (children being allowed to the Lord’s Table) is based upon a Roman understanding of the sacrament of baptism4.
2 The first meeting took place in Dunblane Cathedral where the Rev. John R. Gray, who was considered to be an evangelical, was once the minister. Dunblane has been central to the ecumenical movement in Scotland for decades. Scottish Churches House was established there in 1960 as a focus for ecumenical activity. Its first Warden, Ian Fraser, became the first General Secretary of the Scottish Church Council. This Council gave way to ACTS, and the secretariat for ACTS is based at Scottish Churches House, Dunblane.
3 Life and Work May 1991, pp.16-17.
4 “Romish Trends in the Church of Scotland — Children at Communion” The Free Presbyterian Magazine Vol 96, June 1991, pp. 179-184.
Conti’s perception of ecumenism is that of the Second Vatican Council,5 that is, to restore the unity of baptised Christians under the Pope. A national newspaper drew attention to this at the time of his appointment as Convener of ACTS. “Bishop Conti did not disguise his belief that unity must eventually be centred on the See of Rome. He also stated that ‘intercommunion in this context does not mean a full sharing of each other’s communion rites.’ Intercommunion is rather a common holding of faith and mutual acceptance of each others’ ministries and practices and the key to that is the apostolic See,’ stated the Bishop.”6