Peter Antony Moran (born 13 April 1935) is the former

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the

Diocese of Aberdeen The Diocese of Aberdeen was originally believed to be the direct continuation of an 11th-century bishopric at Bishop of Mortlach, Mortlach in present-day Moray. However, this early date and the first bishops were based on a misinterpretation a ...

, Scotland.

Early life

Moran was born in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. After early schooling in Lanarkshire and East Dunbartonshire, he spent nine years in further primary and then secondary education at

St Aloysius' College, Glasgow St Aloysius' College is a Public school (UK), selective fee-paying, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Society of Jesus, Jesuit day school in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1859 by the Jesuits, who previously staffed the coll ...

, a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

day school.

Priesthood

His formal education for the

Catholic priesthood The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

began with seven years at the Pontifical Scots College in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

(1952-1959), where he was ordained priest in 1959 in the chapel of the

Spanish College The Collegio di Spagna (Royal Spanish College or Royal College of Spain in Bologna) (officially ''Real Colegio Mayor de San Clemente de los Españoles'') is a college for Spanish students at the University of Bologna, Italy, which has been functio ...

by Bishop Fernández-Conde of

Córdoba Córdoba most commonly refers to: * Córdoba, Spain, a major city in southern Spain and formerly the imperial capital of Islamic Spain * Córdoba, Argentina, the second largest city in Argentina and the capital of Córdoba Province Córdoba or Cord ...

. He holds the degrees of Ph.L. and S.T.L. from the

Pontifical Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private university, private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyo ...

in Rome. He is also a graduate of the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

, where he received an M.Ed. degree, as well as the

University of Glasgow The University of Glasgow (abbreviated as ''Glas.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals; ) is a Public university, public research university in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded by papal bull in , it is the List of oldest universities in continuous ...

where he earned an M.A. (Hons.) degree in classics. At the request of his bishop he attended the

to prepare for a teaching post in

Blairs College St Mary's College, Blairs (commonly known as Blairs College), situated near Aberdeen in Scotland, was from 1829 to 1986 a junior seminary for boys and young men studying for the Priesthood (Catholic Church), Roman Catholic priesthood. Part o ...

, then the national

minor seminary A minor seminary or high school seminary is a secondary day or boarding school created for the specific purpose of enrolling teenage boys who have expressed interest in becoming Priesthood (Catholic Church), Catholic priests. They are generally ...

for Scotland. After graduating in 1963 he trained at

Jordanhill College Jordanhill College of Education was a higher education college in Jordanhill, Glasgow, Scotland. It opened as a teacher training college in 1921. The college merged with the University of Strathclyde in 1993, becoming its Faculty of Educati ...

of Education and joined the Blairs College staff in 1964, where he remained until 1986. He also served in a variety of pastoral appointments before becoming bishop: priest in charge of St. Mary’s Parish, Blairs; parish priest of

Inverurie Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and River Don, Aberdeenshire, Don, about north-west of Aberdeen. Geography ...

and also as

chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to various schools. For several years, he served as the Roman Catholic "corresponding member" of Gordon Presbytery of the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

. He served from 1986 to 2002 on the Education Committees of now defunct

Grampian Region Grampian () was one of nine local government regions of Scotland. It was created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and took its name from the Grampian Mountains. The regional council was based in Aberdeen. The region was abol ...

and later of

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

. He is a Life Member of the

Educational Institute of Scotland The Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS) is the oldest teachers' trade union in the world, having been founded in 1847 when dominies became concerned about the effect of changes to the system of education in Scotland on their professional s ...

(E.I.S.) and chaplain to the French-speaking Catholic community of (mainly oil-related) expatriates in Aberdeen.

Bishop of Aberdeen

When Bishop Mario Conti became Archbishop of Glasgow on 22 February 2002, Peter Moran was elected to the caretaker post of Diocesan Administrator of Aberdeen before being appointed

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

on 13 October 2003. He was consecrated as Bishop of Aberdeen on 1 December 2003 by Archbishop

Mario Joseph Conti Mario Joseph Conti (20 March 1934 – 8 November 2022) was a Scottish Catholic Church, Catholic prelate who served as the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Glasgow, Metropolitan see of Glasgow, Scotland between 2002 and his retire ...

in the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption,

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

. His personal motto is, in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, ''Gaudium et spes'' - "Joy and Hope" - which is also the title of Vatican II's ''Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World''.

References

External links

Catholic HierarchyDiocese of Aberdeen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Moran, Peter Antony 1935 births Living people Clergy from Glasgow Alumni of the University of Aberdeen Alumni of the University of Glasgow Bishops of Aberdeen 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in Scotland People educated at St Aloysius' College, Glasgow Pontifical Gregorian University alumni Scottish Roman Catholic bishops Alumni of the Scots College, Rome