The Catholic church can recover from "the battering" it has
taken in recent months, according to Monsignor Leo Cushley, who is to
succeed disgraced Cardinal Keith O'Brien as the archbishop of St Andrews
and Edinburgh.The priests and people are "anxious to move on" from the scandal involving Cardinal O'Brien, who left the post earlier this year after admitting inappropriate sexual conduct, Mgr Cushley said.
He said he would take stock of what happened within the governance of the archdiocese when he is ordained on 21 September.
The 52-year-old also expressed surprise at being appointed archbishop, given his background as part of the Vatican's diplomatic team, although he described the challenges of his new role as "comparatively easy" compared with previous situations he has faced.
"I am humbled that our Holy Father, Pope Francis, has nominated me for such an important task here in our ancient capital. I know it's a delicate moment and that there is a lot to be done but, with God's grace and the kind support of the clergy and people of Edinburgh, I will work cheerfully and willingly with all the energy I can muster," he said.
"I think [the Church] has taken a bit of battering. I think that is fair. But also, as I said before, I think the fundamentals are good and they are right. The priests and the people are very anxious to move on, and I am with them on that."
Cardinal O'Brien stepped down after 27 years at the end of February when three priests and a former priest made allegations of inappropriate behaviour against him dating to the 1980s.
He later issued an apology, saying "there have been times that my sexual conduct has fallen below the standards expected of me".
Mgr Cushley said he has "very little knowledge" about Cardinal O'Brien's situation other than what he has read in the press, and that he has never discussed it with Pope Francis, despite working closely with him in Rome.
"There are certain important questions that I will also have to familiarise myself with. I have no jurisdiction in the diocese until after I have been ordained in late September. Only then will I be able to take stock of what has happened and see what can be done," he said.
Asked how difficult and challenging the role of archbishop will be, given what has unfolded in recent months, Mgr Cushley referred to his experiences working in Burundi towards the end of the civil war, during which 400,000 people were killed.
"That gives you an idea of what we are talking about. You have to get a grip of yourself and say 'What do I believe here?' because your life is on the line," he said.
"So you have a very different attitude to coming to this kind of thing. It is a question of getting to know this country … getting to know the archdiocese, the priests and the people, and taking it from there. It is a comparatively easy task.
"I think there will always be a difference between what the Catholic church preaches and teaches and the individuals who propose that message, who are sinful.
"We believe that you can recover from that, and there is reconciliation and there is forgiveness. You are not characterised by how you fall but by how you pick yourself up."
Mgr Cushley is currently head of the English language section of the Vatican's secretariat of state and returns to Scotland where he was born and ordained a priest in Uddingston, South Lanarkshire, in 1985.
He has served as a papal interpreter and speech writer and accompanied the pope on visits to English-speaking countries, including Pope Benedict's trip to the UK in 2010, and has worked as part of the Vatican's diplomatic team.
Mgr Cushley studied to become a priest at St Mary's College in Blairs, Aberdeen, and then transferred to Scots College in Rome.
Scotland's first minister, Alex Salmond, said: "I wish to pass on my warmest congratulations to Mgr Cushley on his appointment today as archbishop-elect of the archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh. The Catholic church is integral to Scotland, making an enormous contribution to Scottish life and society, and I look forward to this outstanding leadership continuing under the guidance of the new archbishop."
Congratulations were also offered by shadow Scottish secretary, Margaret Curran, and the moderator of the general assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Right Rev Lorna Hood.