A high ranking priest has been accused of not singing from the same hymn sheet as his parishioners after moving to a new church.

Canon Peter McBride moved to head up two churches in the West End - St Peter's and St Simon's in Partick - from his previous base in Riddrie in 2015.

But he has not been popular with all his congregation since taking up the new position and several complaints have now been submitted.

Parishioners have complained about the "over-zealous" priest to their parish council, and some have escalated their concerns to Glasgow's Archbishop Philip Tartaglia.

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They say the priest has used his position for political means and has talked about his staunch support for Scottish Independence during mass.

During the independence referendum campaign, Canon McBride banned the Scottish Catholic Observer from his former parishes in the East End following the appearance of an advert urging people to vote no.

The priest said at the time the advert was "dividing the community" and wrongly mixing party politics and the church.

Since his arrival Canon McBride is understood to have also made a number of changes to the running of the church, most prominently in the musical department.

St Peter's choir, which has been on the go for 25 years, has now been disbanded after the clergyman criticised the style of the music and performances of some members of the group.

Despite escalating complaints to senior church officials, several parishioners say no action has been taken to resolve the issues and the choir is still off.

The group not only provided music for Sunday mass and special occasions such as Easter and Christmas, but acted as a support network for its members - many of whom are elderly and have little to no living relatives.

Hymn books which were bought by parishioners and dedicated to loved ones are also thought to have been scrapped by the priest in favour of his own materials.

One parishioner, who has now moved to another church, said: "We had specific Laudate hymn books, people had dedicated these books to their loved ones who have passed away, and paid for them themselves.

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"He said he couldn't stand the hymn books because they weren't in alphabetical order and now he's not using them.

"He would be totally rogue on the altar and sang things that the choir hadn't prepared, and wouldn't tell them he had changed things.

"He's a one man band, he wants to make the decisions and doesn't care that people's feelings have been hurt.

"People have left the parish and gone elsewhere because of him."

A fellow church-goer who formally complained about the priest, added: "The second week he was there he put a biography at the back of the bulletin saying 'I am a Yes man, I will always be a Yes man.' in relation to independence.

"The pulpit is not the place to talk about politics and make these statements."

The parishioner, who is still a member of the church, said that they felt "let down" by church officials who had not taken action to help resolve the problems at St Peter's.

They added: "This is typical. Unless it's a high-profile abuse case, things are buried and nothing is done.

"The church has a duty of care, particularly from the archbishop, to make sure parishioners are okay.

"He needs to go. He shouldn't be there."

The Evening Times contacted Canon McBride and the Archbishop's spokesman however neither provided a comment.