Gaelic language issue divides diocese's priests

A dispute has broken out in the Catholic Church in the Scottish Highlands and Islands about whether there should be a requirement…

A dispute has broken out in the Catholic Church in the Scottish Highlands and Islands about whether there should be a requirement that the area's next bishop be a Gaelic-speaker.

Priests in the diocese of Argyll and the Isles are disagreeing over whether the priority is to have a bishop whose cultural roots are strong in the area or an outsider whose qualifications are more spiritual.

The dispute has arisen after two years of waiting for the appointment of a new bishop to replace Bishop Roddy Wright, who was a fluent Gaelic-speaker but became better noted for running off with a woman, having fathered a child by another woman.

It reflects a debate within Scotland about how best to promote the Gaelic language, at a time when its native speakers have dwindled to around 60,000 out of five million people, but when it is enjoying a major resurgence in interest from learners and in its music.

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Father Paul Hackett, an English-born Gaelic-learner in Stornoway on the Isle of Lewis, commented: "In a climate of Gaelic revival, the churches should be seen to be showing an interest. I think Cardinal Winning [a non-Gael based in Glasgow] realises that it's part of the culture of the isles in the music and the hymns. This is the language in which people pray."

Father Joe Toal of Benbecula, also in the Outer Hebrides, said it would be good for the language and for the morale of the area to see a local with Gaelic taking such a leadership role.

"The Gaelic community needs leadership from people who are able to speak well, and the church needs that, too. A lot of things are discussed in Gaelic in the media, which the church considers to be important," he said.

But only six out of about 22 priests in the diocese speak Gaelic, and according to Mgr Roderick Macdonald of Glencoe, three of them are too old to be made bishop.

"It would be great to have a good Gaelic-speaking bishop, but it's a nonsense to say that it's essential."