At the request of the Holy See, we the Bishops of Scotland have been considering how our diocesan structures can best serve our shared mission in the years ahead.
This is not simply a question of boundaries, administrative adjustments or the sharing of resources more effectively.
Primarily it is about how we can better proclaim the Gospel, support our clergy, religious and lay people, and strengthen our parishes and communities for evangelisation.
As part of this discernment, and informed by the diocesan feedback summaries, we considered a range of possible configurations.
The following options are now being presented for further reflection and consultation across all our eight dioceses:
1. Argyll & the Isles and Paisley merge
2. Argyll & the Isles and Glasgow merge
3. Paisley and Galloway merge
4. Galloway and Motherwell merge
5. St. Andrews & Edinburgh and Dunkeld merge
6. Motherwell, Paisley and Galloway merge
7. Maintain the current diocesan structures but with greater sharing and collaboration
These are possibilities for further discernment, not decisions or an agreed map for the future.
As your bishops, we recognise that dioceses are communities of faith with their own histories, relationships and traditions. Any change must therefore be approached with prayer, sensitivity and care for the people and communities involved.
Synodal discernment also asks each of us to look beyond our own self-interests and to consider what will best serve the Catholic Church in Scotland as a whole.
Everyone in every parish is encouraged to make their voice heard when opportunities for consultation are announced locally by their diocesan bishop.
Information packs will be made available in each diocese to support this next phase. These will provide an opportunity to learn more about each of Scotland’s eight dioceses, including important statistics and demographic information, so that the consultation can be informed by a fuller picture of Catholic life across the country. The fruits of the consultation will help us to formulate a concrete proposal to the Holy See.
Finally, we encourage everyone to actively engage in this process, and to the keep this central question at the heart our prayer and reflection:
๐๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฌ๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ฉ ๐๐ฆ๐ช๐๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ก๐๐ ๐พ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ฃ ๐๐๐ค๐ฉ๐ก๐๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ข๐๐จ๐จ๐๐ค๐ฃ, ๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ก๐๐จ๐๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ง๐ซ๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ค๐’๐จ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐ก๐?
With every blessing,
+ ๐๐ฒ๐ผ ๐๐๐๐ต๐น๐ฒ๐
Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh
+ ๐ช๐ถ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ก๐ผ๐น๐ฎ๐ป
Archbishop of Glasgow
+ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ต ๐ง๐ผ๐ฎ๐น
Bishop of Motherwell
+ ๐๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ข๐ฆ๐
Bishop of Aberdeen
+ ๐๐ผ๐ต๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฎ๐ป
Bishop of Paisley
+ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ฒ
Bishop of Argyll and the Isles
+ ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ผ๐๐ด๐ฎ๐ป
Bishop of Galloway
+ ๐๐ป๐ฑ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ ๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฒ
Bishop of Dunkeld