Plans are afoot to merge more than 70 parishes in the St Andrews and Edinburgh diocese. There is serious concern among some priests at the ‘top-down’ nature of the proposals What is a parish? Pope Francis’ exhortation Evangelii Gaudium defines it as “the presence of the Church in a given territory, an environment for hearing God’s word, for growth in the Christian life, for dialogue, proclamation, charitable outreach, worship and celebration”. Yet there is evidence of a growing disconnect between the Scottish hierarchy and some parish priests’ understanding of the spiritual and structural nature of a parish. This comes at a time of change for the Church in Scotland, with the announcement by Archbishop Leo Cushley that the Archdiocese of St Andrew