The ‘Looking to the Future’ consultation is an attempt to involve every parish community in assessing the needs and priorities of its local area.
The Archdiocese has been divided into five zones (Deaneries) and each will be tasked with clarifying its own vision for the future and then recommending how best to organize resources at a local level.
The North/East Deanery covers the Cathedral and parishes in the east end of the city. It is the largest of the clusters with 25 parishes, many created in the 1950s when new housing schemes were being built to house people in the post-war reconsctruction.
The Dean for this area is Canon Anthony Gallagher, Parish Priest of St Catherine Labouré and the only Dean to have previously held this title (having served as Dean of the old North Deanery). Canon Anthony, a former alumnus of the Scots College in Rome, was ordained in 2006 and also serves as the Director of Religious Education for the Archdiocese.
The West Deanery covers St Aloysius, Garnethill and all the parishes in the west end and beyond, including the University, Maryhill and Drumchapel. The area contains a mix of post war parishes and some with over a century of history behind them such as St Peter’s in Partick.
The Dean for this area is Fr Allan Cameron, Parish priest of St Gregory’s, Wyndford. He was ordained in 1987 and in his 36 years of ministry has served in a variety of parishes across the Achdiocese working also in pastoral planning and school chaplaincy.
The South Deanery is the second largest with 21 parishes covering the south side of the city from the border with Paisley Diocese to the border with Motherwell Diocese. It contains a few long established parishes, such as Our Lady of Lourdes, Cardonald and Holy Cross, Crosshill, but most parishes are of more recent origin. It includes the formerly bustling housing schemes of Castlemilk and Pollok.
The Dean for the South Deanery is Fr Martin Kane, Parish Priest of St James’ and St Conval’s. Fr Martin is the most recently ordained of the new Deans. He has served as a priest in the Archdiocese since 2010 and brings to the role previous experience of working in public administration as well as his ‘hands-on’ life as a busy Parish Priest and school chaplain.
The Dunbartonshire West Deanery covers the area around Dumbarton and Clydebank and has a higher number of small village parishes than the other deanery, reflecting the geography of the Vale of Leven. The old parishes of St Patrick’s Dumbarton and Our Holy Redeemer Clydebank are joined by small rural communities such as St Peter and Paul, Arrochar and St Gildas’, Rosneath.
The Dean for this cluster of parishes is Fr Aidan Martin, Parish Priest of St Stephen’s, Dalmuir, another former student of the Scots College in Rome. He is the most experienced of the new Deans having been ordained back in 1982. He brings to the new role more than four decades of pastoral experience and a deep knowledge of the local territory.
Dunbartonshire East is the smallest of the new parish clusters with just 12 parishes. This Deanery covers big towns such as Kirkintilloch, with a mix of old well-established parishes such as Holy Cross in Croy and communities dating from the 1960s such as the parishes in the ‘new town’ area of Cumbernauld.
The Dean in this zone will be Fr John Campbell, Parish Priest in Cumbernauld for many years, and who recently coordinated the Archdiocesan Synod consultation. Ordained in 1987 Fr John has wide experience of parish ministry across the Archdiocese and a commitment to dialogue and lay involvement.