The Archdiocese of Glasgow said St Patrick’s Church in Anderston, a familiar red sandstone building just off just off the Kingston Bridge, would be closing in the near future “due to operational costs and a shortfall in numbers attending the parish”.
Archbishop William Nolan, who succeeded the late Philip Tartaglia as Archbishop of Glasgow, chose to live in St Patrick’s chapel house rather than move into a mansion on the south side of the city when he was elevated to the post.
Angelika Kluk, the Polish student who was murdered by Peter Tobin.
The building was once the focal point of a murder scene following the disappearance of 23-year-old Angelika Kluk in September 2006.
The Polish national, who was spending the summer in Scotland to fund her studies, had been staying in a room at the church while working as a cleaner.
The Dumbarton connection with the church was that Father Gerry Nugent, who had been an assistant priest in St Peter’s Church, Bellsmyre – it was announced just this month that it too has closed and may never re-open – was parish priest of the Anderston church when the crime was committed.
The current parish priest is Father Paul Gargaro, who was brought up in Dumbarton.
After Angelika was reported missing, it emerged that she had befriended Tobin, who was working as a handyman for the church after being released from jail for sexually assaulting two 14-year-old girls.
The police officers who investigated the case learned that McLaughlin was, in fact, a convicted sex offender named Peter Tobin, who was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment. He died in custody on October 8, 2022, at the age of 76.