After leading the region’s Catholics for the past seven years, Bishop William Nolan is to leave the Galloway Diocese for a major role in the church in Scotland.
On Friday, Pope Francis appointed the popular and charismatic 68-year-old as the new Archbishop of Glasgow, succeeding Archbishop Philip Tartaglia who died in January last year. It is the largest of Scotland’s eight Dioceses with an estimated Catholic population of 189,000 with 89 parishes served by 163 priests.
He will be the ninth Archbishop of Glasgow since the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy to Scotland in 1878 and his Mass of Installation will take place in St Andrew’s Cathedral, Glasgow, on Saturday, February 26.
His successor in the Galloway Diocese – which is one of the oldest Holy Sees in Scotland and includes Dumfries and Galloway and Ayrshire – has yet to be announced.
Bishop Nolan said: “I feel overwhelmed by the trust Pope Francis is putting in me by appointing me as Archbishop of Glasgow. It will be a wrench for me to leave Galloway Diocese where for seven years I have experienced the kindness and friendship of so many people, particularly the clergy. God truly blessed me by sending me to Galloway and I hope that my successor there will be similarly blessed.
“As I overcome my initial shock at being appointed Archbishop my thoughts now turn to the challenges that lie ahead.
“I look forward to working with everyone in the Archdiocese, laity and clergy, to carry out the mission that we share of proclaiming God’s good news and of bringing the joy of the gospel into the lives of the people of today.”
He added:“I am well aware of my own inadequacies and of the difficulties the Church faces today. Thank God therefore that we can be sure of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
“As I leave the Diocese of Galloway behind, from now on I belong to
Glasgow. And I assure the people of Glasgow of my commitment and dedication to them.
“Please remember me in your prayers.”
As the news was sinking in at parishes across the region during the weekend, Father William McFadden, Vicar General of the Diocese of Galloway said: “As Bishop of Galloway, Bishop Nolan presented a pastoral vision with a genuinely collaborative approach. He led with humility and determination, inspired by the initiatives of Pope Francis, and focussing on the needs of the Church for the 21st century.
“This appointment will allow him to serve both the people of Glasgow and the wider Church with the same abilities with which he served us in Galloway for seven valuable years. We will miss him but appreciate greatly the contribution which he made and the legacy which he leaves.”
Parish priest of St Andrew’s in Dumfries and St Columba’s in Annan Father Gerald Donnelly said: “We congratulate Bishop Nolan upon his appointment as Archbishop of Glasgow.
“We thank him for all of his hard work in the Galloway Diocese over the last seven years and we wish him very well in his new roles.”
Before he heads to Glasgow, Bishop Nolan will be in Dumfries tomorrow (Thursday, February 10) to confer the sacrament of confirmation on younger members of the parishes in St Teresa’s Church, Glasgow Road.
