Archbishop of Glasgow, noted for his conservative views and firm fiscal control of his archdiocese. Born in Elgin, Conti's father owned a fish-and-chip shop and his mother was a teacher and devout Catholic. His grandparents had emigrated from Tuscany in Italy. Destined for the priesthood from an early age, he was educated at St Mary's College, Blairs (Aberdeenshire) and the Scots College in Rome. Conti was ordained as a priest in Rome in 1958. He served as assistant priest in St. Mary's Cathedral (Aberdeen) and then as parish priest jointly between St. Joachim's Church in Wick and St. Anne's Church, Thurso. He was appointed Bishop of Aberdeen by Pope Paul VI in 1977, and consecrated by Cardinal Gordon Gray (1910-93). During his time in Aberdeen, Conti was involved in the ecumenical memorial service following the Piper Alpha Disaster (1988) and, the following year, became the first Catholic priest since the Reformation to be awarded an honorary degree by the University of Aberdeen. However, he resisted pressure to apologise for the cruelty shown by nuns to children in their care. In 2002, he was appointed Archbishop of Glasgow, following the death of Cardinal Thomas Winning (1925 - 2001). Conti oversaw the award-winning restoration of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Glasgow. He was known as a traditionalist with deeply conservative views but gave strong support to those seeking asylum in the UK. He held further honorary degrees from the University of Glasgow and Glasgow Caledonian University, and was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh. He retired in 2012 and was succeeded by Philip Tartaglia (1951 - 2021).
Conti died in the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
