The Winning ways of Scotland's new cardinal

of the church, Archbishop James Scanlan, Tom Winning has never been easy

to fit into a mould.

Maverick and outspoken -- his attack on the Prince of Wales for making

light of dogma, or his opposition to the Falklands and Gulf wars are but

two examples -- he has his roots in the west coast Irish Catholic

tradition and the style of an earthy socialist.

Yet he approved recent attacks on the Labour Party's abortion policy.

He has vociferously defended Catholic schools, zealously put Vatican II

policies into practice, and adopted a pastoral plan for the archdiocese

to the delight of his supporters.

Some of his ambition came unstuck when financial disaster struck the

diocese but he has shrugged it off and will now become a significant

figure on a wider stage when he dons the red hat of a cardinal.

A warm and witty man, he once turned to me outside a radio studio in

which Tridentine mass devotee Gerald Warner was inveighing against the

venal liberality of Vatican ways in his plummy tones. ''See that

fella,'' said TJ in his Lanarkshire accent, ''he's got a few chips on

his shoulder -- and a few in his mooth as well.''

Thomas Joseph Winning was born in Wishaw, the son of a miner who lost

his job before the Depression and knew real hardship. Ordained to a

charge at Motherwell, he served in various Lanark

shire parishes before being appointed bishop-auxiliary in Glasgow in

1971.

Within three years, he was made archbishop and

his ascent to the higher levels of the church had begun. Among the

highlights of the last two decades were his becoming the first Roman

Catholic to address the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in

1975, and the visit of the Pope to Glasgow in 1982.

We are unlikely to see Cardinal Winning making waves in the Tiber, but

compared with most of this weekend's new cardinals he will be a moderate

middle-of-the-road sort of chap.

He said yesterday that he believed much of the Catholic orthodoxy was

''unchangeable'', but that the church had to be more open in the way it

set out to attract support.

''The message will be the same, but the methodology should be

different. As I have said before, you don't use yesterday's tools to do

today's job.''

Cardinal Winning added: ''The church the Second Vatican Council spoke

about, and what I want to see, is a church of participation and a

friendly church, where the rays of Christ shine more clearly.

''It means changing lots of attitudes, getting rid of authoritarian

approaches, and seeing authority as a service. I like people, and I'm

very keen to have dialogue with different groups.''

He described the Pope as a very nice man with a good sense of humour,

who had instituted a marked move towards increased consultation within

the church.

However, of the 167 living cardinals, 85% have now been appointed by

John Paul II in the 16 years of his pontificate and, of the 120 entitled

to vote on his successor, 100 have been selected personally by him.

It is hardly controversial to point out that most of them have

conformed to his traditionalist and theologically conservative views.

One might say that the Pope has loaded the dice so that his successor

will be someone who thinks like him.

Among the heavy sprinkling of Vatican curia types, there are also a

few from countries in which Catholicism is (or was until recently) the

bulwark against a communist regime -- a reflection of the Polish

pontiff's passionate anti-communism.

As well as a recognition of the significant role that Catholicism has

in Scotland today, the presence of a Scottish Cardinal in Glasgow will

add to the clout which the RC church enjoys in the West of Scotland.

On the ecumenical front, Archbishop Winning was an active, if cautious

player. Observers should not look for any immediate relaxation of style

on inter-faith marriages.

The face under the hat will remain much the same, even if the smile

from today onwards will understandably be a little broader.