St. John Vianney, Glimerton

Introduction

Items sold or disposed of were to be collected or moved by the end of August 2023, the effective date for building closures. A booklet about the parish and its 71 year history was produced.

Parish life

The final Mass was planned for Friday 4 August 2023, the feast of St John Vianney. The parish is part of a cluster of three parishes: St Catherine's, St Gregory's and St John Vianney's.

The South Edinburgh Cluster runs Alpha courses, with a variety of people coming together in each Alpha group. 60 parishioners came to the hall after Mass and participated in a meeting to organise and plan the move to St Gregory's. The Parish Pastoral Council agreed a realistic timescale for closing the church, hall and house buildings and moving to St Gregory's. The proposed date for moving was shared with the St Gregory's PPC, who agreed to the proposal.

The Trustees of the Archdiocese will look after the sale of the buildings, with proceeds subject to an Archdiocesan levy introduced by Decree on 26 July 2022. Items for the local foodbank can be left at any of the cluster’s church buildings or at either Catholic primary school. The Saint Vincent de Paul Society has conferences in the three parishes.

Regular events

In the cluster of three parishes, Baptism is celebrated on three weekends each year. Baptism is celebrated during the Sunday morning Mass at St John Vianney's.

Sacraments and pastoral care

Those with a planned hospital admission can receive the Sacrament of the Sick before going into hospital by approaching the parish priest in the sacristy before or after Mass. Patients admitted to hospital can ask the nurse in charge to arrange a visit from a priest on the hospital chaplaincy team.

First Reconciliation is usually celebrated during Lent, with children normally in Primary 3. Confirmation is usually celebrated during May, when the Archbishop confers the sacrament, with children normally in Primary 7.

Couples living within the parish boundaries are asked to contact the Cluster Office six months before the proposed wedding date. A Baptism Team invites families to join a Baptism Preparation Course.

Children and their families are expected to complete the preparation program for Confirmation. Parish catechists prepare young people together with parents and with the parish primary schools Saint John Vianney’s and Saint Catherine’s. Couples receive marriage preparation guidance from the parish priest.