Dear Reverend Fathers and Deacons,

After receiving the reports of your deliberations at deanery level I have prepared a paper on the future distribution of parish priests in the Diocese. I have set it in a time-frame of the next five years which may seem limited but I would like to be hopeful about future vocations and to encourage their promotion.

I ask that the paper be made available to your parishioners and have set the weekend of 13th/14th September for this to be done in all the parishes. Once this paper is released I wish to offer a meeting in every deanery at which the faithful (people) from across the deanery can meet with me and give their views on what is proposed. When each deanery sets the date of the meeting I will spend the day in that area saying the morning Mass in one of the parishes, joining the clergy for a deanery meeting followed by lunch, meeting individual clergy in the afternoon who have not had a chance to speak with me, and then in the evening having the open meeting for the faithful [people] from the deanery. I hope what I propose is clear and that the deanery consultation will happen before Advent.

In my paper I also refer to priests under the age of 75, expressing the expectation that parish priests [will] continue in office until they reach that age. Obviously individual circumstances may vary and will need to be discussed personally with me, but I would hope that priests who are in reasonable health and spirit will continue in parish ministry until they are 75.  It is important at present that those over 75 and those approaching that age tell me what they want to do and express any anxieties they may have about their position and future care.

Further considerations on the plan for the diocese

The plan allows each parish to maintain its present identity, which means in many cases one priest will be parish priest of two parishes (as is already the case in a number of parishes). It may be necessary and prudent though to begin to think of uniting two parishes into one. This would mean that the one parish would have two churches. I am very familiar with this set-up as in my previous Diocese of Argyll and the Isles it is often the case that there is more than one church in a parish (the parish church and chapels of ease is the terminology sometimes used). This set-up would be worth considering in Motherwell [Diocese], especially when parishes are close together and will be sharing priests in the future. In this set-up the faithful [people] will continue to have their local church but the parish structure and administration will be united - this will certainly be a help for the parish priests caring for these parishes.

Once the new Council of Priests is established we will begin to look at this possibility - each local situation will be assessed and the needs of the parishioners and parish priest given full consideration.

Looking further ahead questions may arise, and merit consideration, as to the wisdom of maintaining the present number of churches. Where churches are very close to one another, and perhaps competing almost for the local faithful [people], it may be wise to consider whether it would be better to have one church instead of two. This can be an emotive issue as people are attached to their "own" church but sometimes difficult decisions have to be taken and we may need to face up to this possibility in Motherwell Diocese as elsewhere. Due process has to be followed in such matters and the necessary consultation carried out so I will certainly endeavour to ensure this happen if we need to make such choices. This sort of decision should be taken for good pastoral reasons, and for the future well-being of the local Catholic community, but the difficulty of maintaining or repairing a particular building may also have to be taken into account. Not all of our churches have such a healthy attendance at Sunday Masses nowadays and this inevitably means a reduction in income and the ability to care for all the buildings we have at present. I have noticed also that when the Diocese has assisted parishes in repairs and refurbishments in the recent past there has been some reluctance to repay loans - this cannot be the pattern in the future and that may mean tough decisions being made about the future of some churches.

Invitation

I present this paper to the Diocese for everyone's consideration. I hope to have meetings in each Deanery in the coming months to reflect upon these important matters and invite you to attend these meetings when advertised in your own area.

Let us all pray for guidance of the Holy Spirit as we approach this time of reflection. May the Lord be with us as we strive to be his "Missionary Disciples, and Parishes" in the 21st Century.

1. ✤ Joseph Toal
   

Bishop of Motherwell

Please click here to learn more about Bishop Toal’s initial plans for the distribution of priests across the Diocese in the years up to 2020.