St. Patrick's, Greenock, Scotland
Parish Priest: Very Rev G.J.Gallagher
HOLY YEAR 2025
The closure of the jubilee year will be celebrated in Rome on Tuesday (6th. January), the Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord, when Pope Leo will close the Holy Door in St. Peter’s Basilica. The Ceremony of Closure and Mass begins at 8.30am (our time) and will be broadcast live on the Vatican website:
FINANCE
THANK YOU for last Sunday’s Offertory Collection which came to £1,125.39 and for the CHRISTMAS DAY COLLECTION which came to £1,577.14. Thank you for your kind generosity at a time of year when so many demands are made on you.
​
THIS WEEKEND Second Collection for the work of Justice & Peace.
YOUNG PEOPLE Pilgrimage to Paris with Diocese of Paisley Youth in Autumn 2026. Opportunities for prayer, time for retreat, catechesis, sightseeing and much more.
Register your interest today at:
www.tinyurl.com/dpy-paris
For further information please contact:
kerry.miller@rcdop.org.uk
POPE LEO’S PRAYER INTENTIONS
January 2026
For prayer with the Word of God
That praying with the Word of God be nourishment for our lives and a source of hope in our communities, helping us to build a more fraternal and missionary Church.
THE INNOCENTS
Pregnancy testing and counselling done in confidence, Mondays and Thursdays 7.00-9.00pm. Tel. 743809
GRIEF TO GRACE
A Healing Retreat for Victims of Abuse, 7th.–12th. February 2026 in Perth. Grief to Grace is a specialised 5-day programme of spiritual and psychological healing for anyone who has suffered from sexual, physical, or emotional abuse or neglect in childhood, adolescence or adulthood, including those abused by a religious/ member of the clergy. If you are interested in this confidential healing retreat, please contact: Grief to Grace (Scotland) at
margaret.clarke@grieftograceuk.org
INVERCLYDE ROYAL HOSPITAL
We have a catholic chaplaincy team who are happy to visit patients in the hospital for non-emergency visits. Please let Fr. Gerry know that you or your relative would like a visit from a catholic chaplain.
PARISH PRAYERS
We pray for all who are ill or housebound: in particular, we remember:
Joan Birt, Jim Docherty, Annabelle Melville, Tommy Gallacher, Margaret McGarry, Chris Jones, Sandi Bray, George Bennett, Michael Fitzharris, Gina Robb, Isobel Diorio, Anne Faller, Nan Scullion, Lexi Kerr (baby), Linda Scott, Maureen Hanvey, Emma Sinclair, Maureen Houston, Anne Kane, Jessica Glover, Caroline McNeil, Joanne King.
​​
We pray for all who have died recently, R.I.P.
Catherine Margaret Kelly, Katherine Demuro, Jim Miller, Jennifer McNeill, May Strachan, Jimmy Miller, Agnes Tait, Anne Coyle.
​
We remember those whose anniversaries are at this time, R.I.P., especially:
Rev. William Mallon,
Assistant Priest here, 1929-1931,
Rev. Hugh G. Heslin,
Assistant Priest here, 1957-1967,
Rev. John J. Canon Scanlon,
Parish Priest here, 1948-1957,
Dan Crawley, Elizabeth Wright,
Edward Mitchell.
Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.
May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.
QUESTIONS ABOUT ADMISSION TO HOLY COMMUNION
1. There still seems to be some confusion around about the question of divorce and admission to Holy Communion. If you are divorced but have not re-married and you are not “living with someone”, then you are not barred from participating at Mass or Holy Communion. Indeed, the conditions for you to receive Holy Communion are the same as for everyone else; you must be in a state of grace and you must fast for one hour before receiving Holy Communion. People were told in the past that if they got divorced, they were “excommunicated” - this “information” was not correct.
​
If you have divorced and then remarried “outside the Church”, or if you are “living with someone”, then you are still very welcome to come to Mass but that may change your situation about admission to Holy Communion.
​
2. If at one time you “married outside the church” and your situation has since changed, (e.g. if your spouse, sadly, has died, or if that marriage has ended) and you have not re-married “outside the church” or started “living with someone” then you can be re-admitted to Holy Communion. The conditions for you to receive Communion are the same as for everyone else; you must be in a state of grace and you must fast for one hour before receiving Holy Communion.
​
3. If you are in any of these situations (or other marriage situations) and are not sure about how to proceed, please talk to one of our priests or deacons about it and they will be happy to help.
Protecting your Privacy
The privacy notice contained on our website is that of the Diocese of Paisley, St. Patrick’s is a Catholic parish of the Universal Church in the Diocese of Paisley, which is led by Bishop John Keenan, in communion with our Holy Father Pope Francis, in Greenock.
We want you to know that Diocese of Paisley respects the information we hold on you and that we take the security of your information very seriously.
New data protection rules, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), come into effect on May 2018. These regulation will give people greater control over how companies and organisations use their personal information.
We have updated our Privacy Notice in line with GDPR, which sets out information on how we hold and handle your data. It includes:
-
what kind of information we collect
-
how we use it
-
when we may need to share it
Many thanks for your understanding. You can read our full Privacy Notice at by clicking here or a hard copy can be requested from the Parish.