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Secret report to set out raft of church closures
CLOSED: Priest Tony Walsh outside St Teresas Church on Church Avenue, Fishwick, which has been closed as part of changes being implemented
Officials have put together a report which will see the closure of a church in Preston this month.
The Preston Catholic Working Party, which is led by Corpus Christi High School head Martin Callagher, has produced the “internal report” for the Bishop of Lancaster Michael Campbell which has seen the closure of St Teresa’s Church in Fishwick, Preston and the cut-backs of masses held at churches throughout the inner city.
It will see the merger of seven parishes which take place at the end of the month and could see further mergers and closures.
Fr Robert Billing, the secretary to the Bishop of Lancaster Michael Campbell, said the changes were the start of the Diocese’s bid to tackle plunging mass attendances outlined in its controversial Fit for Mission review published two years ago.
He said: “We could fit all the people (attending mass in Preston) into one building if we are being brutal, but we do not want to do that.
“We cannot keep all these churches open and these changes are an indication to Preston and the Diocese that the Bishop is making a start on decisions to change.
“If we do not make these changes, change will over-take us.
“The Bishop is being courageous and bold in his decisions.”
The changes, which will begin from November 27, the first day of Advent, will see:
n The merger of the St Walburge’s and Sacred Heart in Ashton, Preston, with both hosting a single mass on a Sunday;
n The merger of the St Joseph’s and St Teresa’s parish in Ribbleton and Fishwick respectively with Avenham’s St Augustine’s parish, leaving one Sunday mass being held at St Joseph’s and St Augustine’s with the closure of St Teresa’s;
n The merger of the St Ignatius and English Martyrs’ Church with three weekday masses held at English Martyrs’ on Garstang Road and a Sunday mass held at St Ignatius on Meadow Street, Deepdale.
Fr Billing said it was “impossible” to expect Catholic churches to be filled over the next decade by a congregation with an average age of 60 years, despite the influx of younger worshippers from the Polish and Keralam Indian communities to churches in Preston.
He said Bishop Campbell would be looking at each church in the city and beyond across the Diocese on “a case-by-case basis” and would be informing congregations of changes by a personal letter.
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Wednesday 23 May 2012
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Comments
There are 3 comments to this article
Page 1 of 1
adobson
Friday, November 11, 2011 at 01:46 PMI am disgusted with the LEP for reporting on the closures in that way. This was no secret; we have had info. about it for weeks. The photo of Rev Tony Walsh was taken three years ago when he first came to be the pp there at St Teresa's. The smiles do not fit well with the present state of St Teresa's parish. They are hurting and he is not smiling now. In fact he was not consulted about this photo being published. I cannot believe any newspaper would publish a photo without the person's consent and checking that the info is accurate.
interested observer
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 09:48 PMPerhaps the catholic hierarchy, should reflect on the reasons it can only fill one church in Preston. You get the impression congregations are not important ,only finance. God versus mammon we know who is the winner here.
margaret nelson
Monday, November 7, 2011 at 06:42 PMSo the noose tightens.While we have no objection at St Ignatius' to merging with English Martyrs we are very upset at losing our weekday Masses and public services especially our funerals, weddings, school Masses, and Holy Week services etc…etc…Many of our parishioners are elderly and have lived 70, 80,or 90 years in the parish. They have planned that their funerals would be in our church. On Sunday many of them were in tears. What has happened is cruel and uncaring. I hope that the group who made this decision realise the huge hurt they have caused. In a church which is haemorrhaging members it is unbelievable that is alienates people who have been its bedrock and have stuck by it through scandals and institutional sexism. It is no wonder that our children and grandchildren see the way the church treats their grandparents and they decide to privatise their spiritual life.
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