Roman Catholic Diocese of Motherwell


The Roman Catholic Diocese of Motherwell is an ecclesiastical diocese of the Catholic Church in Scotland.
The diocese, which was erected on 25 May 1947 by Pope Pius XII from the Archdiocese of Glasgow, along with the Diocese of Paisley which was erected on the same day, remains one of two suffragan sees under the Archdiocese. On Tuesday 29 April 2014 - the Feast of St Catherine of Siena - Pope Francis appointed Joseph Toal as the fifth Bishop of Motherwell.
In 2004, the Catholic population, proportionately the largest in Scotland and second largest in Great Britain, was 165,100 from a total population of 633,000. By 2016, the number of catholics dropped marginally to 162,331 but as the total population increased, percentagewise the catholics dropped to 22,8 % of the total population.
In 2012 the diocese was served by 65 parish priests, 7 assistant priests and 13 deacons in across its 74 parishes. There are currently 35 retired priests from the diocese and 4 who reside in parishes in the diocese. The area of the diocese is.

Bishops

Past and present ordinaries

The following is a list of the Bishops of Motherwell:
There are currently 75 parishes and 74 churches in the Diocese which are served by 72 priests and 13 deacons.
Krysztof Garwolinski, administrator of St Patrick's, Wishaw is chaplain to the Polish community.
Joseph Vembadamthara is chaplain to the Syro Malabar community and is an assistant priest at St Cuthbert's, Hamilton.
On Wednesday 24 July 2013, Leo Cushley, a priest of the diocese of Motherwell was appointed the Archbishop of St Andrew's & Edinburgh. Cushley was ordained in 1985 by Devine in St John the Baptist Church, Uddingston before serving in the Cathedral, St Serf's, Airdrie & St Aidan's, Wishaw. Since 1992 he has been a diplomat for the Vatican and held the post as head of the English-language section of the Vatican's Secretariat of State.
Maurice Taylor, a priest of the Diocese is the Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Galloway and served as Scotland's representative on the Board of International Commission on English in the Liturgy and was its Chairman from 1997 until 2002.
Another priest of the Diocese, William Nolan, is the current Bishop of the Diocese of Galloway. Both Bishop Nolan and Bishop Taylor are former parish priests of Our Lady of Lourdes, East Kilbride who later became Bishop of Galloway.
Cardinal Thomas Winning, a priest of the Diocese born in Wishaw was Archbishop of Glasgow from 1974 until his death in 2001.
In 2016 Fr. John Farrell, Retired priest of the Diocese of Motherwell, the last Head teacher at St Ninian's Falkland, Fife, was sentenced to five years imprisonment. His colleague Paul Kelly, a retired teacher from Portsmouth, was given ten years, both were convicted of the physical and sexual abuse of boys between the years 1979 and 1983. More than 100 charges involving 35 boys were made. Farrell and Kelly were members of the Irish Christian Brothers when the crimes were committed at the school which closed in 1983. According to The Times, it is believed this was the largest historical abuse case ever tried in Scotland,

Parishes and deaneries

The 75 Parishes in the Diocese are divided into nine deaneries. Where after the title of a church two dates are given, the first is the date of the foundation of the parish and the second is the date of the opening of the current church building. Due to a shortage of priests, a number of parishes have begun to share parish priests, forming pairs of linked parishes.
  1. Airdrie Deanery - dean, Rev. Raymond Breslin
  2. * St Andrew, Airdrie
  3. * St Edward the Confessor, Airdrie
  4. * Parish of SS Margaret & Serf, Airdrie
  5. ** St Margaret of Scotland, Airdrie
  6. ** St Serf, Airdrie
  7. * Calderbank and Salsburgh Linked Parishes
  8. ** Corpus Christi, Calderbank
  9. ** Sacred Heart, Salsburgh
  10. * St Mary, Caldercruix
  11. * St Aloysius, Chapelhall
  12. * Coatdyke and St Stephen's Linked Parishes
  13. ** Holy Trinity & All Saints, Coatdyke
  14. ** St Stephen, Coatbridge '
  15. * Parish of St David's, Plains
  16. ** St David, Plains
  17. ** St Dominic, Greenbank
  18. Central Deanery - dean, Rev. James Grant
  19. * Bellshill Linked Parishes
  20. ** St Gerard, Bellshill
  21. ** Sacred Heart, Bellshill
  22. * St Bride, Bothwell
  23. * Holy Family, Mossend
  24. * St John the Baptist, Uddingston
  25. * St Columba, Viewpark
  26. * St Gabriel, Viewpark
  27. Coatbridge Deanery - dean, Rev. Vincent Lockhart
  28. * St Augustine, Coatbridge
  29. * St Bartholomew, Coatbridge
  30. * St Bernard's & St Mary's Linked Parishes
  31. ** St Bernard, Coatbridge
  32. ** St Mary, Coatbridge
  33. * St James the Greater, Coatbridge
  34. * St Monica, Coatbridge
  35. * St Patrick, Coatbridge
  36. * Our Lady & St Joseph, Glenboig
  37. East Kilbride Deanery - dean, Rev. Ivan Boyle
  38. * St Bride, East Kilbride
  39. * St Leonard, East Kilbride
  40. * Our Lady of Lourdes, East Kilbride
  41. * St Vincent de Paul, East Kilbride
  42. Hamilton Deanery - dean, Rev. Brian Lamb
  43. * Blackwood & Larkhall Linked Parishes
  44. ** Our Lady & St John, Blackwood
  45. ** St Mary, Larkhall
  46. * Blantyre Linked Parishes
  47. ** St John Ogilvie, Blantyre
  48. ** St Joseph, Blantyre
  49. * Burnbank & Hamilton Linked Parishes
  50. ** St Cuthbert, Burnbank
  51. ** St Ninian, Hamilton
  52. * Parish of SS Mary & Paul, Hamilton
  53. ** St Mary, Hamilton
  54. ** St Paul, Hamilton
  55. * Our Lady & St Anne, Hamilton
  56. * St Peter, Hamilton
  57. * St Patrick, Strathaven
  58. Motherwell Deanery - dean, vacant
  59. * Parish of the Cathedral and St Luke
  60. ** Cathedral of Our Lady of Good Aid, Motherwell
  61. ** St Luke, Motherwell
  62. * St Bernadette, Motherwell
  63. * St Brendan, Motherwell
  64. * St Francis Xavier, Carfin '
  65. * St Teresa of Lisieux, Newarthill
  66. * New Stevenston and Holytown Linked Parishes
  67. ** St John Bosco, New Stevenston
  68. ** Christ the King, Holytown '
  69. Northern Deanery - dean, Rev. Kenneth O'Brien
  70. * Parish of St Ambrose, Baillieston
  71. ** St Bridget, Baillieston
  72. ** St Francis of Assisi, Baillieston
  73. * St Kevin, Bargeddie
  74. * Craigend & Stepps Linked Parishes
  75. ** St Dominic, Craigend
  76. ** St Joseph, Stepps
  77. * Parish of St John Bosco, Easterhouse
  78. ** St Benedict, Easterhouse
  79. ** St Clare, Easterhouse
  80. * St Michael, Moodiesburn
  81. * St Barbara, Muirhead
  82. Rutherglen Deanery - dean, Rev. Patrick Hennessy
  83. * St Bride, Cambuslang
  84. * St Cadoc, Halfway
  85. * Rutherglen Parish
  86. ** St Anthony, Rutherglen
  87. ** St Mark, Rutherglen
  88. * St Columbkille, Rutherglen
  89. Wishaw Deanery''' - dean, Rev. James Thomson
  90. * Parish of St Isidore, Biggar
  91. ** St Isidore, Biggar
  92. ** St Mary Magdalene, Forth
  93. * St Athanasius, Carluke
  94. * Cleland & St Aidan's Linked Parishes
  95. ** St Mary, Cleland
  96. ** St Aidan, Wishaw
  97. * St Mary, Lanark
  98. * St Brigid, Newmains
  99. * Parish of St Patrick, Shotts
  100. ** St Patrick, Shotts
  101. ** St Catherine, Harthill
  102. * St Ignatius of Loyola, Wishaw
  103. * Parish of St Patrick and St Thomas
  104. ** St Patrick, Wishaw
  105. ** St Thomas, Wishaw
There are 11 priests and 1 deacon who serve as school chaplains to the high schools in the diocese.

There is also a chaplain to the main hospitals in the diocese, Monklands, Wishaw and Hairmyres.

Cathedral

was first built in 1900 and became the cathedral of the new diocese of Motherwell in 1948. The current Cathedral Administrator is Fr Gerard Chromy. The parish of the cathedral was linked with the parish of St Luke's Motherwell in 2011.

Cathedral Chapter

Canons
Canons Emeritus