New Rector for Royal Scots College Spain - re-opening as a Seminary

Fr Kilbride

In a dual announcement the Bishops of Scotland have nominated a new Rector for the Royal Scots College, Salamanca, Spain and have asked him to do the preparatory work for the re-opening of the College as a Seminary. As a Royal foundation it is the King of Spain who will appoint the new Rector, with the approval of the Holy See, and the Bishops of Scotland propose the candidate.

Father Tom Kilbride, currently parish priest of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Glasgow, has been nominated by the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland and has been tasked by them to prepare the College to receive seminarians from January 2016 for an annual six month long propadeutic period in preparation for their entry to the Pontifical Scots College in Rome the following September.

Since 2007 Fr Kilbride has been the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese of Glasgow and it is this educational experience that Archbishop Tartaglia, Archbishop of Glasgow and President of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland said: “I am very pleased that Fr Tom Kilbride will be the next Rector of the Royal Scots College, Spain. His nomination was welcomed enthusiastically by the Bishops Conference.

"Fr Kilbride is an experienced parish priest who has held responsibility for directing the Religious Education Office of the Archdiocese of Glasgow. He has also shown a special interest in adult religious education and spirituality which will be an invaluable asset for him in his work with candidates for the priesthood.”

Archbishop Tartaglia added: “Fr Kilbride's appointment coincides with our decision that the Royal Scots College in Salamanca, Spain, will once again be used for the formation of candidates for the priesthood in Scotland, its historic purpose for the last 4 centuries. It is envisaged that from January 2016, candidates for the priesthood will follow a six-month propaeduetic period in our Salamanca college before going on to Rome for studies in philosophy and theology. The Bishops of Scotland are very pleased to be able to announce that we are re-opening a seminary.”

Ordained to the Priesthood in January 1996 by Cardinal Thomas Winning Fr Kilbride served as an Assistant Priest in St Roch’s and St Andrew’s Cathedral and Our Lady of Lourdes parishes Glasgow before becoming the Parish Priest of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Denistoun in 2008. Responding to his appointment Fr Kilbride said: "It came as a huge surprise to me to be nominated by the Bishops to take on the role of rector of the Royal Scots College in Salamanca. I feel honoured - but not a little daunted - at the prospect, aware of the great tradition the College represents of service to the Catholic community over four centuries but looking ahead to making it serve future needs of the Church too. I feel sad at the prospect of leaving Our Lady of Good Counsel parish, which I have loved these past six years, but I hope I can put my pastoral, educational and personal experience to good use in this new challenge."

Source: SCMO