More parishes likely to merge

The Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh has acknowledged that his archdiocese faces the amalgamation of parishes, due to falling numbers of vocations.

Archbishop Leo Cushley said in a recent pastoral letter that “the Church is nothing without the Eucharist, and we have far too few priests for our present needs”.

His comments parallel an ongoing consultation in the Archdiocese of Glasgow, which will almost certainly result in more amalgamations and consequently fewer parishes. Glasgow city has been declining in population since the Second World War and its East End, a traditional Catholic stronghold, has been substantially cleared and modernised.

Bishop Joseph Toal, recently appointed Bishop of Motherwell, said that in his previous diocese of Argyll and the Isles there was local resistance to amalgamation, but that remote parishes with declining congregations might well have to accept some form of sharing. “And that might very well be a positive thing,” he added. “We are called on to share our goods, after all.”

Archbishop Cushley conceded that the process would not be easy.

“However, if we keep our gaze fixed upon the Eucharist, and upon the necessity of gathering around it to celebrate the risen Lord in our midst, then we will pray more earnestly for our present and future priests, and we will surely encourage our priests in their important task.”

The archdiocese has made no further comment on the issue.