盖蒂图片社 2026年10月9日 天主教会将作为一项重大重组的一部分，将格拉斯哥和邓巴顿郡的教区数量减半，届时将有24座教堂关闭。
Getty Images 9 October 2026 The Catholic Church is to halve the number of parishes it has in Glasgow and Dunbartonshire as part of a major restructuring that will see 24 churches close.
威廉·诺兰大主教在致教友的信中表示，此举是被迫的，原因是“教区太多但人太少”，但他承认，如此多的关闭对许多人来说将是一种“痛苦的体验”。
Archbishop William Nolan said the move was forced by "too many parishes but too few people" in a letter to congregations, but admitted the amount of closures would be a "painful experience" for many.
他补充说，该教区活跃神父的数量在过去五年内已下降了三分之一。
He added that the number of active priests in the the archdiocese had fallen by a third within the last five years.
苏格兰广播公司（BBC Scotland）《驱动时刻》节目的一位教会发言人表示，格拉斯哥的活跃神父数量可能在未来20年内降至仅八人。
A church spokesperson told BBC Scotland's Drivetime programme that the number of active priests in Glasgow could fall to as few as eight within the next 20 years.
格拉斯哥总教区传播主管罗尼·康弗里警告称，由于目前大多数神父年龄已超过60岁，未来几年将出现神父短缺的情况。
Ronnie Convery, director of communications at the Archdiocese of Glasgow, warned that as the majority of priests are currently over the age of 60, this will lead to a lack of priests in the coming years.
康弗里在《驱动时刻》节目中表示：“这是一个持续了10到20年的问题。问题有两个——教堂位置不对，因为它们建在后来人口外流的地区，而且现在去教堂的人越来越少。
Convery told Drivetime: "This has been an ongoing issue for 10 or 20 years. There are two problems - the churches are in the wrong places, having been built in areas that have since been depopulated, and fewer people are going to church now.
但真正的致命打击是 vocation 危机——我们 simplesmente 没有足够的神父来服务所有这些教区。
"But the real killer blow is the vocations crisis - we simply do not have enough priests anymore to service all these parishes.
目前格拉斯哥大约有80个教区——我们估计20年后只剩下八位神父在岗。必须采取措施，使情况变得可行。”
"At the moment Glasgow has around 80 parishes - in 20 years' time we reckon there will only be eight priests left working. Something has to be done to make things workable."
此消息传出之际，苏格兰的主要宗教信仰正面临人数稳步下降的挑战。
The news comes as Scotland's major religious faiths grapple with a steady decline in numbers.
2022年人口普查显示，苏格兰首次有多数人表示自己没有宗教信仰。
2022 census revealed that, for the first time, a majority of people in Scotland said they were not religious.
根据普查数据，格拉斯哥人中有20.74%自称天主教徒，而苏格兰总人口中有13.3%自称天主教徒。
According to data at the census, 20.74% of Glaswegians are Catholic, while 13.3% of the overall population in Scotland said they were Catholic.
然而，这些数据表明，过去十年中自称天主教的人数减少了超过117,000人。
However, those numbers showed people saying they were Catholic had dropped by more than 117,000 in the past decade.
威廉·诺兰大主教表示，教会无法回避痛苦的决定。关于东邓巴顿郡、西邓巴顿郡、格拉斯哥南部、格拉斯哥西部以及格拉斯哥东部和北部教堂的合并提案，已由大主教和司祭理事会原则性批准。
Archbishop William Nolan said the church could not avoid painful decisions The merger proposals, covering churches in Dunbartonshire East, Dunbartonshire West, Glasgow South, Glasgow West and Glasgow East & North, have been approved in principle by the archbishop and the Council of Priests.
教区官方期刊《繁荣》指出，这些举措将在堂区和牧区牧灵委员会层面进行地方讨论，随后才会实施变更。康维表示，许多举措将导致两个堂区共用一座建筑。
The official journal of the archdiocese, Flourish stated the moves will now be discussed locally across parish and deanery pastoral councils, ahead of the changes taking place. Convery said many of the moves will see two parishes start sharing one building.
这些合并和关闭不会在同一天进行，而是分阶段进行，每个案例都将按照教会法规进行正当程序。
The mergers and closures will not take place on a single future date but at separate times, with each case going through due process in canon law.
该计划表明，许多关闭将在“五年内”发生，尽管有些被列为“五到十年内”。最终将导致大约40个堂区。
The plan suggests many of the closures will be "within five years", although some are listed as being "within five to 10 years". It will result in about 40 parishes in total.
“参加弥撒的人数显著减少” 大主教的声明称：“堂区太多但人太少，教堂太多但神父太少。”
'Significantly fewer people coming to Mass' The archbishop's statement said: "There are too many parishes but too few people, too many churches but too few priests.
“与这些堂区成立和教堂建造时相比，现在参加弥撒的人数显著减少。我们的一些最大教堂位于人最稀少的地区……”“我们的堂区和教堂承载着我们珍贵的回忆，深植于我们心中，因此任何堂区的减少和教堂的关闭都将是一种痛苦的经历。然而，我们无法通过逃避现实来避免这种痛苦。
"Compared to when these parishes were formed and our churches built, there are significantly fewer people coming to Mass. Some of our largest churches are in places where there are the fewest people... "Our parishes and our churches hold great memories for us and are dear to our hearts, so any reduction in parishes and any closure of churches will be a painful experience.
‘正如修葡萄园的人修剪葡萄藤，使其得以生长，我们也必须修剪和修整，以保持健康，以实现成长。’”遗产专家告诉BBC苏格兰新闻，这一消息是预料之中的，但对许多当地社区来说将是一个打击，因为建筑可能将闲置不用。近年来，苏格兰教会已在全国范围内出售了众多建筑。
We cannot avoid that pain, though, by not facing up to reality. "Just as the vinedresser cuts back the vine so that it may grow, so we too must trim and prune in order to stay healthy, in order to grow." Heritage experts told BBC Scotland News that the news was expected, but would be a blow to many local communities with buildings falling into disuse. In recent years the Church of Scotland has sold off numerous buildings across the country.
苏格兰教会信托基金的主任DJ约翰斯顿-史密斯博士在接受Drivetime采访时表示：“这件事的发生是不可避免的。对很多人来说，这将是非常难以接受的。
Dr DJ Johnston-Smith, the director of Scotland's Churches Trust, told Drivetime: "There was an inevitability to this. It will be very hard to hear for many people.
自2020年以来，苏格兰已有456座教堂建筑关闭，也就是说每周多于一座，我们预测在本十年末之前还将有400到500座教堂关闭。
"Since 2020, 456 church buildings have closed across Scotland, so more than one a week, and we predict another 400 to 500 closures before the end of the decade.
这个国家无疑正在世俗化，但这并不是这些建筑存在的唯一目的——它们一直是社区的场所，是庇护所，甚至对那些不踏入其门槛的人来说，也能成为社区的锚点。”
"The country is undoubtedly secularising, but that's not just the sole purpose of these buildings - they have been places of community, places of sanctuary and can sit as an anchor in any community, even for people who do not cross the threshold."