It was reported last year that the parishioners had appealed to Pope Leo XIV about the decision to close both the church and the parish. They claimed that the consultation process they’d been promised never took place. They described a planned merger with another south side parish as “not a merger at all, but ‘an extinctive union” which would have removed their 60-year-old parish in its entirety.
The Vatican partially upheld part of that appeal and is currently considering the parishioners’ further entreaty about the closure. They are also seeking answers about the transfer of £116k in parish funds to another parish and a refusal to provide details of several subsequent transactions.
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Parishioners were left dismayed last weekend that Archbishop Nolan hadn’t attended the last-ever Sunday Mass at St Albert’s. “It is difficult to think of a more casual and neglectful approach to pastoral care than that Your Grace and our Parish Priest left that solemn and important moment to be led by a young visiting supply priest with little knowledge of our parish.”
The parishioners have claimed a “harsh authoritarianism” is evident in the process to dismantle their parish. The complaint adds: “In a parish where, for many years, parishioners readily and ably stepped up in parish arrangements, we have been subject to an excessive and over-bearing clericalism in the smallest details of parish arrangements”.
They describe this as “a failure in care”, adding that it had “caused scandal wider than our own parish”. They say that parishioners at Pollokshields Church of Scotland “showed more thought for our liturgy on Sunday than those charged with care for it and us. Our organist is their resident organist and our sisters and brothers at Pollokshields Church delayed the start of their own Sunday Service so he might play at ours.”
The latest development comes as parishioners in two other Glasgow churches have raised similar concerns about their treatment by the archdiocese. Our Holy Redeemer in Clydebank has raised a petition on change.org seeking to pause a proposed merger with neighbouring St Margaret’s.
It cites a “lack of transparency” and states that parishioners’ demands for “financial clarity” about the proposed cost of roof repairs “has not been provided”. The parishioners say that with proper investment and community support, Our Holy Redeemer, described as “the Mother Church of Catholic Clydebank” could continue serving the town “for many generations to come”.
Parishioners at a third parish, St Patrick’s in Anderston, have launched a petition objecting to the closure of their church, which is one of the oldest Catholic churches in Glasgow. It’s understood that they also intend to take their case to the Vatican if the archbishop refuses their appeal to save the church.
Responding to the complaint from St Albert’s, a spokesperson for Archbishop Nolan said: “The Archbishop has responsibility for the pastoral care of the whole Archdiocese. When faced with a much reduced number of clergy and demographic changes, decisions have to be made to deploy priests, and schedule Masses in ways that allow for the best possible access to the sacraments for as many people as possible.
“While no one underestimates the disappointment or disruption that can be caused by change, it is necessary given the circumstances in which we, and other Christian denominations, find ourselves.
“In the case of St Albert’s, the parish church is not being closed and a priest will visit once a week to celebrate Mass there. There are several parishes nearby providing Sunday Masses. Given the current shortage of clergy this is the best provision possible.”