Saints & Obituaries St John Southworth: 27 June As one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales, St John Southworth paid the ultimate price for his faith and is often referred to as the ‘Parish Priest of Westminster’. Yet he was not a Parish Priest in the traditional sense, but one who came to Westminster and, under threat of death, continued to serve and help the poor, notably during the plague years of the early 17th century. Born around 1592 into a Lancashire family who lived at Samlesbury Hall near Preston, he studied for the priesthood at the English College, Douai, and was ordained a priest in 1618. He was sent to minister to English Catholics and, under the penal laws in force at the time, was arrested in 1626 in Lancashire. He was condemned to death and imprisoned first in Lancaster Castle and afterwards in the Clink Prison, London. During the plague of 1636 we have accounts of him in Westminster, administering the sacraments and comforting the sick and the dying. Following the execution of King Charles I in 1649 and the establishment of the Commonwealth, laws against Catholics were more vigorously enforced. In 1654 an informer told the authorities that a Catholic priest was working in Westminster and Commonwealth soldiers arrested John Southworth. He was tried at the Old Bailey although there was little
evidence against him. His friends advised him to deny being a priest to save himself, but he would not and thus was condemned to be hung, drawn and quartered at Tyburn on 28 June. We have a detailed record of St John’s gallows speech. He went to his brutal death with great bravery. ‘This gallows I look on as His cross which I gladly take to follow my dear Saviour,’ he said. The Spanish ambassador bought the body from the executioner and the corpse was sewn together, embalmed and returned to Douai. When England and France went to war in 1793, St John’s coffin, along with other relics, was buried beneath the seminary in the kilns for protection. It was subsequently lost and not discovered again until 1927. Fr Purdie, a Westminster priest, was sent by Cardinal Bourne from England to receive and identify the remains, which were brought initially to St Edmund’s College, Ware. On 30 April 1930 his relics were brought first to the convent at Tyburn and then, on 1 May, to Westminster Cathedral. John Southworth was beatified in 1929 and declared a saint in 1970. Today his casket can be found in the Holy Souls chapel of the Cathedral. Copies of the late Fr Michael Archer’s CTS booklet on St John Southworth are available from the Cathedral shop priced £1.95.
Fr Piotr Smoliński MIC RIP
In Memoriam: June
Fr Piotr Smoliński MIC was born on 21 July 1964 in Międzyrzec Podlaski, Poland. He entered the Marian Fathers in June 1983 and took his First Vows in September 1984. He was ordained to the priesthood in June 1990 by Bishop Zbigniew Józef Kraszewski, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Warsaw. Following his ordination, he had a varied ministry, serving as a Parish Priest, Rector of the Marian Fathers’ residence in Lublin, Prefect of Studies, Archivist General at Generalate of the Marian Fathers in Rome, and Superior General conducting the process of beatification for five members of his Order. In 2009 Fr Piotr was transferred to Ealing to serve the Polish migrant community. During his time in Ealing he was heavily involved in sacramental preparation. Father Piotr died suddenly on 20 April 2015 aged 51, in his 25th year of priesthood.
1 Fr Philip Carpenter (1992) Bishop Victor Guazzelli (2004) 2 Fr Stephen Finnegan (1993) Fr Damien McManus (1997) 4 Fr Joseph Rees (2007) Fr William McConalogue (2009) 7 Fr John O’Connell (1970) 9 Mgr David Norris (2010) 10 Fr John Harrington (2007) 11 Fr Vincent McCarthy (1974) Fr Francis Davis (2003) 13 Canon Alfonso de Zulueta (1980) 14 Fr George Lee (1987) 16 Fr Michael Pinot de Moira (2013) 17 Cardinal Basil Hume OSB (1999) 18 Fr Michael Connor (2007) 19 Cardinal Herbert Vaughan (1903) 20 Fr Thomas Kiernan (2013) 21 Fr J Brian Campbell (1983) 22 Fr Anthony Turbett (2000)
© Carmel Micallef
St Francis of Assisi Catholic Ramblers’ Club meets on every Sunday for walks around London and the Home Counties. Contact by email: antoinette_adkins2000@yahoo .co.uk, call 020 8769 3643 or check out the website: www.stfrancisramblers. ukwalkers.com
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Westminster Record | June 2015
Ealing Abbey Events
26 Fr John Moran (1988)
Presbyteral ordination of Br Ambrose McCambridge OSB by Cardinal Vincent Nichols, Saturday 4 July at 11am.
27 Fr Raleigh Addington (1980)
Book disputation on Ask the Beasts, Darwin and the God of Love, by Elizabeth Johnson. Panel: Clare Watkins, Abbot Martin Shipperlee, Catherine Pepinster & Fr Jim Sweeney CP. Sat 29 August at 3pm in Ealing Abbey Parish Hall.
30 Fr Edmund R J Henry (1971)
Mgr Canon Roderick More O’Ferrall (1991) 28 Fr Cuthbert Boddy (1970) Canon Denis Crowley (1980) 29 Fr Richard Fitzgibbon (2006) Fr William Anderson (1972) Fr Christopher Bedford (2008)
Free Catholic Tours. ‘Saints and Scholars’ walk first Sunday of the month, including Mass. Contact Peter on 07913 904997 or circlingthesquaretours@ hotmail.co.uk
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