Chancery

The Chancery is the administrative branch of the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh. Under the guidance of the Chancellor, it handles the official documents pertaining to the ecclesiastical affairs of the Archdiocese. The Chancery also serves the Archdiocese in matters of canon law, the internal law of the Church. It grants marriage dispensations and responds to enquiries about marriages, although all matters concerning annulments are handled by the Scottish Catholic Interdiocesan Tribunal. Chancery also collates all the statistical information required by the Vatican and checks the Church documents for visiting Clergy.

The Archdiocese is an A rated sponsor of visas for Ministers of Religion and Religious Workers and the Chancery processes applications for Priests and Religious from outside the UK who wish to work here. Following the UK’s exit from the EU, this applies to most European citizens (with the exception of Irish nationals). The process can be long and expensive therefore summer supply visits cannot be supported.

The Chancellor of the Archdiocese of St Andrews & Edinburgh is the Very Reverend Scott Deeley. He is parish priest at St Patrick’s, Kilsyth, Vicar Episcopal for Clergy & Consecrated Life and the Chairman of the Trustees of the Archdiocese. He studied for the priesthood at The Royal Scots College, the Pontifical University of Salamanca, and was ordained to the priesthood in 2004. He has since served in parishes in Stirlingshire, East Dunbartonshire, East and West Lothian and the City of Edinburgh. Father Deeley has a Licence in Canon Law from the Pontifical Gregorian University. He is a judge of the Scottish Inter-diocesan Tribunal and The Tribunal of Second Instance of the National Tribunal Service of England & Wales.