Pope Francis Nominates Monsignor Leo Cushley

Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Andrews & Edinburgh
July 24, 2013

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Pope Francis nominates Monsignor Leo Cushley as 8th Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh,

It is with great joy and gratitude that the priests and people of the Archdiocese received the news that Pope Francis has today nominated Monsignor Leo William Cushley as the 8th Archbishop and Metropolitan of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

Commenting on the news, Bishop Stephen Robson, the auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese, said ‘after months of prayer by the priests and people of the Archdiocese, we are so delighted to learn that God has given us Monsignor Cushley as our new chief pastor. We will now continue to be close to him in prayer in these coming months as he prepares for his ordination and to take on this great task which the Lord has entrusted to him.’

Monsignor Cushley was born at Wester Moffat, Lanarkshire in 1961. He attended Holy Cross High School, Hamilton and the National Minor Seminary of St Mary’s College, Blairs. He was a student at the Pontifical Scots College, the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Liturgical Institute of Sant’ Anselmo. On 7th July 1985 he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Motherwell at St John the Baptist Church, Uddingston by the Right Reverend Joseph Devine, Bishop of Motherwell. After ordination he was appointed curate at Our Lady of Good Aid Cathedral, Motherwell and then at St Serf’s, Airdrie in 1988.

In 1992 Monsignor Cushley returned to Rome to study at the Pontificia Ecclesiastica Academia and the Pontifical Gregorian University to train for the Church’s diplomatic service and work for his doctorate in Canon Law. He has since assisted at the diplomatic missions in Cairo, Burundi, Portugal, the UN headquarters in New York and South Africa. In 2006 he returned again to Rome to work as the head of the English language section of the Vatican Secretariat of State and take up the post of Prelate of the Anticamera.

Monsignor Cushley will be ordained to the episcopate on 21st September 2013, the feast of St Matthew, at St Mary’s Metropolitan Cathedral, Edinburgh.