Cardinal Says Parish Closures Will Need a "Culture Change" in Scotland
Jun 14, 2006
A Scottish Archbishop has said there needs to be a culture change in the face of parish closures and falling vocations.
(The Universe, June 13, 2006) Cardinal Keith O’Brien announced this week that the number of priests in the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh is expected to fall from 63 to 34 within the next ten years. This could mean closure or amalgamation of a number of parishes which would share a priest. The average age of a priest in Scotland is now over 60 and the cardinal has asked people for their opinions as part of a major restructuring for the future.
A spokesman for the Church in Scotland said Catholics would need to undergo a “culture change” and move away from the traditional view of having several priests or even one priest in every parish.
"You have cinemas, retail parks and shopping centres all centralising. Nobody seems to think twice about crossing Edinburgh to go to the Gyle shopping centre. They’re not demanding local shops stay open,” he said.
"In the same way, there needs to be a cultural change that going to Mass will involve a longer round trip of maybe five or 10 miles."
Both the Catholic Church and the Church of Scotland - the two largest Christian denominations in Scotland - have seen a slump in attendance and vocations since the 1950s, when a majority of adult Scots would attend church on a Sunday. The number of practising Catholics has dropped to just over 200,000 - down 20 percent since the mid-1990s.
In Edinburgh alone, the number of couples baptising their children at a Catholic church annually has fallen from 1,910 ten years ago to 1,075 today. Over the same period, the number of people attending Mass annually has fallen from 40,917 to 32,509. In a pastoral letter, Cardinal has asked for the opinion of people in his diocese over a proposed restructuring plan.
He wrote: “In no way am I pessimistic about the future. At this time, I would like to thank the Irish and Polish priests, and also those who have come from Malta and parts of Africa to assist from time to time for different periods in the diocese. However, the fact remains, we are not producing enough homegrown Scottish priests. That is the root of the problem. In the months and years ahead, there is a tremendous challenge lying ahead for the Catholic laity here in Scotland, in the Church and the world."
Cardinal Says Parish Closures Will Need a "Culture Change" in Scotland