St Aloysius Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

in the

Garnethill Garnethill is a predominantly residential area of the city of Glasgow, Scotland with a number of important public buildings. Geography Located in the city centre, the area borders Cowcaddens to its north, Sauchiehall Street to its south, Camb ...

area of

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It is the only church in Glasgow to be run by the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

. It is situated on the corner of Hill Street and Rose Street and is next door to

St Aloysius' College, Glasgow St Aloysius' College is a Public school (UK), selective fee-paying, Private schools in the United Kingdom, private, Society of Jesus, Jesuit day school in Glasgow, Scotland. It was founded in 1859 by the Jesuits, who previously staffed the coll ...

, having a close relationship with the school. When it was built, it was the only Catholic church in Glasgow to have a tower. It is modelled on Namur Cathedral in

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

and is a Category A listed building.

History

Founding

The

Jesuits The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

arrived in Glasgow in 1859 by taking over the parish of St Joseph's Church, North Woodside Road. In the early 1860s they purchased land in the

district, which, at that time, was on the western outskirts of the city and a residential area recently favoured by the wealthier classes. In 1868, Fr William Kay SJ arrived at Garnethill with instructions to found a mission at St Aloysius which would be distinct from St Joseph's. He quickly set about constructing a large building on Hill Street. This building was made of iron and glass, very similar to Glasgow Queen Street station, was known as 'Fr Kay's Railway Shed'. This building served as the parish church for the next forty years. The

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute for women in the Catholic Church. It was founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. In 2019, the institute had about 6,200 Religious sister, sisters worldwide, organized into a number ...

came to Garnethill in 1868 at the invitation of the Jesuits and rented from them two houses in Rose Street, the area now occupied by the church. However, a shortage of staff meant that the sisters could not work at the college next door, but they were able to continue to work in the

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

next to St. Joseph's church, which was a Jesuit parish until 1931 and closed in the 1970s. Rose Street - geograph

Construction

The foundation stone for the present church building was laid on 4 October 1908 and it was opened on 6 February 1910, by the

Archbishop of Glasgow The Archbishop of Glasgow is an archiepiscopal title that takes its name after the city of Glasgow in Scotland. The position and title were abolished by the Church of Scotland in 1689; and, in the Catholic Church, the title was restored by Pop ...

, John Maguire. The building is listed category A and was designed by a Belgian architect, Charles Jean Ménart in the

baroque revival The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (in ...

style. Ménart also designed St Peter's Church in

Rathven Rathven () is an ecclesiastical parish, village and former Civil parishes in Scotland, civil parish in the historic Banffshire, County of Banff, now in Moray, Scotland. The civil parish was last used as a census subdivision in 2001, with a pop ...

. The church was unique amongst the Catholic churches of Glasgow in that it had a tower and is modelled on Namur Cathedral in

and the Gesu in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

.''St Aloysius''
Scotland Churches Trust
Retrieved 28 January 2013 The two bells in the church tower were installed in 1910. They were originally part of a set of 10 bells that were placed in

St Giles' Cathedral St Giles' Cathedral (), or the High Kirk of Edinburgh, is a parish church of the Church of Scotland in the Old Town, Edinburgh, Old Town of Edinburgh. The current building was begun in the 14th century and extended until the early 16th century; ...

in Edinburgh in 1865. In 1890, St Giles' Cathedral sold the set to St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh for £20. At the time, St Mary's Cathedral was trying to raise money to build a tower to house the bells. In 1910, after the fundraising was unsuccessful, the set of bells were divided up and given to other churches, two of which went to St Aloysius church. Inside the church are four

side chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are o ...

s, The Sacred Heart Chapel, the Lady Chapel, the Holy Souls Chapel, the St Ignatius Chapel and in addition there is the St John Ogilvie national shrine, which was added in 1933 to mark John Ogilvie's beatification which had taken place in 1929.''Our Church''
St Aloysius Church site
Retrieved 24 January 2013 The interior decoration of the church was a prolonged and costly enterprise and the debt increased alarmingly so that the prospect of the solemn consecration receded. It was not until after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

that debt was steadily reduced and finally cleared. On 29 November 1953 Archbishop Donald Campbell presided at the solemn ceremony of consecration.

The Black Madonna

In February 2008, a copy of the famous statue of

Our Lady of Montserrat Our Lady of Montserrat or the Virgin of Montserrat () is a Marian title associated with a statue of the Madonna and Child venerated at the Santa Maria de Montserrat monastery on Montserrat mountain in Catalonia, Spain. She is the patroness sai ...

, also known as The Black Madonna, was donated to the church, situated in the Lady Chapel, by visitors from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

and is only the second of such statues outside

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

Parish

The church enjoys a close relationship with St Aloysius' College next door. The church is regularly used by the college; its assemblies are held in the church twice a week because of the church's large capacity. Also, masses are regularly offered in the church for both the junior and senior schools. Connected to the church is the Ogilvie centre, this hosts various parish related groups, such as the local Christian Life Community association and social justice group. In addition, there is the nearby Ignatian Spirituality centre, 35, Scott Street, which is situated in the same building as the local Jesuit community. It was originally the Craighead Jesuit Spirituality Centre and was in

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

. It was moved to Glasgow in the late 20th century and was renamed the Ignatian Spirituality Centre. The centre offers one-to-one spiritual accompaniment and a varied programme of non-residential courses, events and retreats grounded in

Ignatian spirituality Ignatian spirituality, similar in most aspects to, but distinct from Jesuit spirituality, is a Catholic Church, Catholic spirituality founded on the experiences of the 16th-century Spanish Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuit order. The ...

to the surrounding area. The centre is staffed by a diverse team of Jesuits, lay people and members of other

Catholic religious orders In the Catholic Church, a religious order is a community of consecrated life with members that profess solemn vows. They are classed as a type of religious institute. Subcategories of religious orders are: * canons regular (canons and canon ...

and other Christian denominations.Ignatian Spirituality Centre
Retrieved 24 January 2013

Interior

File:St Aloysius Church interior, Glasgow by Thomas Nugent Geograph 2949014.jpg, Interior File:St Aloysius Church interior, Glasgow by Thomas Nugent Geograph 2949019.jpg, View of the dome interior

References

External links

St Aloysius' College siteIgnatian Spirituality Centre Glasgow
{{DEFAULTSORT:Glasgow, Saint Aloysius Church

Saint Aloysius Aloysius de Gonzaga, SJ (; 9 March 156821 June 1591) was an Italian aristocrat who became a member of the Society of Jesus. While still a student at the Roman College, he died as a result of caring for the victims of a serious epidemic. He was ...

Listed Roman Catholic churches in Scotland

Jesuit churches in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1910 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom

Neoclassical church buildings in Scotland