Background
On 15 March 1952, he was born Edward Gilbert in Emsworth, Hampshire, to an Anglican family.
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Hugh Gilbert
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As a child, he was educated at the independent Street Paul"s School in London. He studied history at King"s College London and graduated in 1974 with a first class honours degree in History.
Career
He had previously served as the Abbot of Pluscarden Abbey, of which he is a member, also in Scotland. Monastic life Gilbert was received into the novitiate of Pluscarden Abbey in Moray, Scotland, in March 1975, at which time he was given the religious name Hugh. He made his temporary profession of monastic vows on 10 March of the following year and was then sent to the former Fort Augustus Abbey--located on the shores of Loch Ness--for studies and preparation for the priesthood.
He made his solemn profession of vows on 10 March 1979 and was ordained a priest in 1982 on the Feast of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June) by Mario Conti, then the Archbishop of Glasgow.
Dom Alfred Spencer OSB, the first abbot in the history of the monastery, subsequently appointed Gilbert to various duties in the community: sub-prior in 1984, novice master in 1985, and prior in 1990. Gilbert was elected by the monastic community to succeed Spencer as abbot on 29 October 1992.
He received the abbatial blessing from Conti the following 8 December, at which time he formally took office. During his time as abbot, the community grew to 27 monks.
In 2007, when the Archbishop of Westminster, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O"Connor reached the age of 75, the prescribed retirement age for bishops, Gilbert was mentioned as a possible successor.
lieutenant was thought however that he declined the appointment. Vincent Nichols, then the Archbishop of Birmingham, was appointed instead in 2009. Bishop Gilbert was appointed the Bishop of Aberdeen by Pope Benedict XVI on 4 June 2011.
He was ordained for this office at the Cathedral Church of Street Mary of the Assumption in Aberdeen by Cardinal Keith O"Brien, the Archbishop of Street Andrews and Edinburgh, on the Feast of the Assumption (15 August) 2011.
He chose as his episcopal motto Omnia in Ipso constant (All things hold together in Him), which is a verse from the Letter to the Colossians (1:17). Gilbert will be expected to find a way of tackling secularism and boosting church attendance.
However, the Diocese of Aberdeen has seen an increase in its Catholic population in recent years with the arrival of workers from Eastern Europe, particularly Poland and Lithuania.
Membership
He was a member of the Council of the Union of Monastic Superiors from 1993 to 1997 and of the Abbot Visitor"s Council since 1995.
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Born
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Nationality
English -
Religion
Catholic Church