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News diary

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175 years of ministry at St Francis Xavier

Celebrations for the patronal feast of St Francis Xavier church in Everton and for the beginning of the 175th anniversary of the church took place on Saturday 3 December when Archbishop Malcolm celebrated Mass. However, celebrations took on something of a bittersweet nature when it was also announced that the Jesuits would be leaving the parish shortly after Easter 2023. After making the announcement Archbishop Malcolm said, ‘The Jesuits have served this parish for 175 years ministering to the people of Liverpool and, in its heyday, there were 15,000 people at church here every Sunday. The numbers are very much reduced now but the impact that this parish has on the area is still very significant not just by its imposing building with its wonderful spire which gives hope to people, but also by the work done hand in hand with the Church of England through Faith Primary School and the Whitechapel Centre. Our social outreach will continue as will the worship, we want to continue to keep this wonderful parish going in the Jesuit tradition.’ Parish priest, Father Denis Blackledge SJ said, ‘I’ll be 80 at Easter and move into whatever “retirement” might mean. The privilege of being parish priest at SFX for these past seven years has provided me with some of the best moments of my priestly ministry. I love the people to bits, and they’ve given me far more than I could ever give them. I’ve been part of a wonderful team amidst wonderful people, and just wish I were 20 years younger to be able to stay on with them. I’m going to miss them terribly.’ The Provincial of the Jesuits, Father Damian Howard SJ said in a statement, ‘Although there is sadness in saying farewell, it’s only because there has been so much affection between the people of the parish and the Society of Jesus. The Jesuits have been privileged to share the lives of the people of Everton for so long and we will always keep the memory of our association with them alive in our hearts.’

Brother Ken Vance SJ was brought up in the parish and described the announcement as being ‘very sad and a bittersweet moment.’ However, the celebrations for the 175th anniversary, launched at the patronal Mass, continue and Brother Ken went on to say, ‘I am looking forward to celebrating a year of events leading up to the 175th anniversary of the opening of St Francis Xavier’s church on 3rd December 2023. It’s an added delight that we will be starting with several fundraising events for the Whitechapel Centre for the Homeless, Liverpool’s leading homeless charity’. The first of the events, ‘No room at the Inn’ was opened by award winning writer, Jimmy McGovern on the evening of Tuesday 6 December, and is a free exhibition of over 20 nativity scenes provided by the local community and different organisations in support of the Whitechapel Centre. The displays include a crib of recyclable refuse, an ‘edible’ gingerbread crib as well as the inn keeper at the church door. The free exhibition runs until Friday 6 January and the church will be open from 9.00 am to 1.00 pm every day. On Friday 16 December the church hosted a Christmas Carol Concert and over £5,500 was raised - the final amount will be known after 6 January with more events planned during the coming year.

Parish Priest, Father Denis Blackledge, Archbishop Malcolm, Brother Ken Vance

news diary Hope’s Christmas Gift Drive

Liverpool Hope’s Catholic Society spearheaded a University wide Christmas Gift Drive in support of the L6 Centre in Everton. The idea came from students who wanted to do something tangible to help children at this difficult time.

Niamh Newton the President of CathSoc was delighted with the response, she commented ‘on behalf of CathSoc I would like to thank staff and students for their support. Their donations of toiletries, toys and children’s pyjamas have made a huge difference to families in our community this Christmas.’ The University Chaplain, Father Stephen Pritchard said, ‘the initiative was run by students and is a fruit of our Sunday Mass. It is from Eucharist that love and charity flow. The L6 centre is close to the University’s Creative Campus and so it is good that staff and students are making a positive difference to families nearby.’ Over the Christmas season the L6 Centre put together hundreds of parcels to help families during the cost-of-living crisis and to support residents physical and mental wellbeing.

Light up a Life at St Joseph’s Hospice

St Joseph’s Hospice in Thornton held its annual Light up a Life service on Sunday 4 December. The service included readings and prayers from Bishop Tom Neylon, and the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Mr Mark Blundell, as well as the hospice’s chief executive, Mike Parr with children from St Mary’s Preparatory School, Crosby singing carols.

During the service, the hospice also switched on the lights of its Light up a Life Christmas tree, with each light dedicated to the memory of someone special.

Light up a Life isn’t just for families who have lost loved ones at the hospice but is for anyone who would like to remember the special people they have lost and to celebrate their lives, or to say thank you or mark a special occasion or birth. It is a very personal Christmas service, which always takes place at dusk on the lawn in front of the hospice.

Maxine Armstrong, head of fundraising at St. Joseph’s Hospice, said: ‘Our Light up a Life service is very popular with local families, and it was a wonderful way to mark the start of the festive season here at the hospice. We were delighted to welcome everyone into our woodland gardens for the service and to see the Christmas lights being switched on.

‘For all those families who make a generous dedication to Light up a Life, they are not only remembering their loved ones but are also helping to support and fund all the good work the hospice does within the community.’

The Hospice opened its doors in 1974 and has held a special place in the heart of the local community ever since. Today it offers high-quality, professional nursing care within a peaceful, home from home environment surrounded by 12 acres of beautiful woodland gardens. Caring for around 200 people every year the hospice’s nurseled service is supported by a community-based palliative care consultant, a visiting GP and a local network of specialist clinical support. As well as caring for patients a range of support services are provided to care for the needs of families and loved ones.

Mike Parr, Mr Mark Blundell and Bishop Tom Neylon

news diary Legion of Mary celebrates 50 years in Penketh

The Legion of Mary in St Joseph’s, Penketh celebrated their 50th anniversary with Mass celebrated by parish priest, Father John Schofield, followed by a celebration in the parish centre. The first meeting of the Legion took place on 2 November 1972 and while the membership has changed over the years the group are still active in the parish including founder members, Philomena and Peter Harvey who were presented with a Papal Blessing during the celebrations for the 40th anniversary held in 2012. Parishioner, Michelle Harrison, together with Legion secretary Patricia Parry, created a display for the anniversary including a photo of the two founders, Philomena and Peter and Philomena’s sister Mary Croughan taken with Frank Duff the original founder of the Legion of Mary in Dublin. The group, which was not able to meet during covid, regrouped in Spring 2022. When unable to visit the sick and housebound, communication was maintained by phone calls. Home visits are now possible but visits to care homes are limited and controlled to prevent any spread of the still lingering covid. After regrouping, an as always, well attended Mass for the Sick and Housebound was held for the first time since lockdown.

A new initiative undertaken by the Legion in Summer 2022, was to present year 6 pupils in St Joseph’s and St Vincent’s primary schools with a miraculous medal to accompany them on their journey into secondary education. This was undertaken in line with theme three of the Summary Proposals of Synod 2020 on Schools and Young People and was made financially possible by the generosity of the parish pantomime group. It is hoped to continue this project to continue the work of spreading the love, faith and kinship of the parish community.

A special award for John

John Tickle from St Theresa of the Child Jesus church in Sutton Manor, St Helens, has been presented with a Benemerenti medal by Bishop Tom Williams for 60 years of service to the parish. For forty of those sixty years he has been sacristan and Master of Ceremonies as well as tending the church gardens, cleaning the church and organising flower displays.

On the day of the presentation the church was full, including John’s sister and guests, many from the world of poultry. John is an accomplished award-winning poultry breeder and has organised the poultry section of the Royal Cheshire County Show for the last fifteen years. He is also an experienced judge of poultry and is on Panel B of the Poultry Club judges panel.

news diary Obituary of John Cotter

Right To Life UK trustee and UK pro-life veteran, John Cotter, died peacefully following a short illness on Friday 2 December 2022.

John was born in Newarthill, Glasgow on 13 April 1951 and married Marilyn in 1975. His journey to becoming involved with the pro-life cause began in 1981, whilst he was working in Toronto, when his eldest son, John Jnr, was born and had to be nursed in the special care baby unit. It struck John that whilst their son was receiving the best possible care to enable him to live, just a few floors away in the hospital, babies were having their lives deliberately ended through abortion, and he was determined to do something about this injustice. In 1983 John and his family returned to live permanently in the UK. He had not forgotten his vow to dedicate his life to fighting for the right to life of the unborn child, and all vulnerable human life from conception to natural death. In the years that followed, he went on to help to run a number of grassroots and political campaigns. John was also one of the key people who founded and ran a pregnancy support service that helped a large number of women facing unplanned pregnancies over the years. Dozens of children who have gone on to be adults are here today because of the help their mothers received from the service.

Although the formation of such a charity was already being planned, the push to launch the charity earlier than anticipated came during a Mass that was held for the unborn in a Liverpool church - the main celebrant was Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Kelly. At the end of the Mass, a nun approached John and said, ‘All very well, but babies are still dying. What are you going to do about it?’ John was instrumental in working with the founder of Right To Life UK, Phyllis Bowman, to set up the charity Right To Life UK and was a trustee of the charity from its inception through to his death. Most recently he has been working directly with the charity, giving hours of his time to support the work of the organisation’s leadership team as they have rolled out a major transformation and growth programme at the Charity. Paying tribute Lord Alton of Liverpool said, ‘John was one of those deeply committed people who quietly get on with whatever needs to be done without seeking the limelight for themselves or expecting recognition. He would undoubtedly have said that the best tribute we can now give him is to persist in his life-saving and life-affirming work.’ His Funeral Mass was celebrated on Friday 23 December at St Lewis’ Church, Croft.

Seafield Reunion

Over 35 former students of the class of 1972 had a nostalgic visit to Sacred Heart Catholic Academy – which in their day as students was Seafield Convent Grammar school Great Crosby.

‘It was a very special day’ said Pat Murphy who had organised the visit. ‘John Pye, Assistant head teacher, certainly did us all proud with his knowledge of the history of the building, and taking us around our old class rooms and areas of what was the old convent, where no one previously dared to enter’. Former students had travelled far and wide for the special reunion, including one former student visiting from Brisbane Australia. Not even the planned train strike stopped some students from travelling, and last minute arrangements being made. It was very much a day to remember as the former students visited the old art room, biology labs, the gym and indeed their old classrooms. Interestingly a couple of the class year actually returned to teach and work in the school, others had not been in the building since the day they left. Everyone was very impressed by the newly refurbished library, especially dedicated in the memory of Sacred Heart former head teacher John Summerfield and enjoyed the Harry Potter theme area. Memories of the school chapel and the many services attended, silence on the corridors, and cloakrooms with indoor and outdoor shoes.

‘We were in school for over two and a half hours, and it certainly was not long enough’, says Pat, ‘I had to persuade everyone to leave to travel on the Royal Hotel Waterloo where we continued our day together with a buffet lunch and a very much long overdue catch up with each other. Lots of promises to keep in touch and not leave it to special reunions to see each other again.’ Seafield Convent was previously the home of the order of the Sacred Heart of Mary sisters, who retired to Warren Road Blundellsands.