| Admin_History | Born on the island of Antigua in the West Indies. Family returned to Scotland. Started higher studies for the priesthood at the Scots College in Rome in 1892 and gained three doctorates- Philosophy, Divinity and Canon Law. Ordained in Rome in 1898. Assistant priest at St. Patrick’s Edinburgh 1901-1910. Parish priest in North Berwick 1910-1912. Parish priest in Hawick 1912-1918. Nominated Bishop of Aberdeen in 1918. Died in 1946.
Though Henry Bennett was born in Antigua, the son of a wealthy sugar planter and a member of the Island’s Executive Council, his family were rooted in the Catholic faith and came from the traditionally Catholic territory of Banffshire and Moray.
With his parents he returned to Scotland in his teens and attended Edinburgh Academy and the Abbey School in Fort Augustus. Aged 17, he began his studies for the priesthood at the Scots College in Rome. In his 9 years there he won three doctorates and was ordained in Rome in 1898.
His first appointment was to St. Patrick’s in the Cowgate of Edinburgh, an area of multiple deprivation. There he developed outstanding pastoral skills as well as a reputation as an administrator. Later appointments were to North Berwick and Hawick so he had twenty years of parish experience.
His call to be Bishop of Aberdeen in succession to Aeneas Chisholm was unexpected and it took some time for him to win the friendship and admiration of the Diocesan clergy. His shyness also led him to keep a relatively low profile in the City of Aberdeen but he presided with great dignity at the major Church ceremonies in the Cathedral and was an excellent preacher.
Financial administration was his forte and after a long and fairly uneventful episcopate (28 years) he left no financial problems for his successor- and allegedly even no unanswered letters. He was known for his belief, carried out in practice, that priests’ social lives needed encouragement and support- believing that priests should not be left too long alone in the outlying parishes.
He himself was keenly interested in the history of the Scottish Catholic Mission and worked on the Blairs Papers. He was conservative in matters of liturgy but could act swiftly to eliminate a tradition which he believed to be no longer valid- such as the conditional baptism of adult converts.
He died on Christmas Day, 1946. |