Catholics hit by backlash over O’Brien sex scandal

By Michael Glackin
Times
February 7, 2015

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article4347222.ece

A sharp fall in donations to the Catholic Church since the Cardinal O’Brien sex scandal broke has plunged its finances into crisis and will force it to close a number of parishes across Scotland.

The Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh, which encompasses an area from Perthshire to The Borders, has announced plans to reduce the number of its parishes by more than two thirds — from 109 to 30 - in an effort to tackle the collapse of funds.