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 (26.1%). 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 (the number of parishes had reduced to 67 by March 2017). 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: Diocesan Clergy. 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. Johny Vettickal Abraham 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, It was reported at the time of Farrell's trial that when he was released from prison steps would be taken to remove, laicise or defrock John Farrell however at this moment in time it can be neither confirmed or denied whether this has happened or not. 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. 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 (Rev  James Travers), Wishaw (Rev Ricklan Mallya) and Hairmyres (Rt Rev Mgr Thomas Millar). Cathedral. Our Lady of Good Aid 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 Western Catholic Calendar