Dystopia and the destruction of language
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Friday, 28 December 2007
The future for St. Walburge's?
Many readers will know of the diocese of Lancaster's Fit for Mission? review, which is proposing to close several churches in Preston. One of these is St. Walburge's, which the review's draft plan has recommended should cease to be a place of worship "at an early date". St. Walburge's church is architecturally outstanding and has benefited from substantial subsidies from English Heritage and the Heritage Lottery Fund; its prospective closure has led to a great deal of discussion in the local and national press.
Most of this discussion has focussed on the potential loss of this superb building. Important though that is, it seems to me that worse still would be the failure of mission which the closure of the church would represent. The Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest has offered to take financial and spiritual responsibility for St. Walburge's; the traditional Latin masses celebrated there this year by their Fr. William Hudson were a great success. Bishop O'Donoghue has not yet accepted their offer, but many of Preston's catholics are praying that he will do so. I for one am greatly encouraged about the news of the success of the ICKSP in Chicago and Kansas City, as reported in Fr. Z's blog. Please pray for a similar success story in Preston.
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2 comments:
I am delighted to have found this blog. I contribute to a similar blog in the Middlesbrough Diocese and know how difficult it is to catch people's attention amongst so much blogosphere activity.
Do you have any plans for furthering the cause of St Walburge's? Perhaps national press publicity? I would be happy to help.
We also have a very fine church in the diocese - the church of St Mary and St Everilda at Everington. This was closed a few years ago and its very rural location would make rebuilding a congregation very difficult.
Thanks "Et Expecto".
Thanks for your good wishes and your offer of help. I don't have any ideas to further the cause of St Walburge's other than prayer, gently encouraging our bishop to accept the ICKSP's offer, and supporting Fr. Hudson's mission in Preston (he celebrated mass at St. Walburge's in September and is now ministering to the local traditional community just across the river in Liverpool archdiocese). You can help certainly with prayer and, perhaps, a short note to Bishop O'Donoghue might be useful. If you can help with publicity that would be very welcome.
That was the short answer. Here's the long one:
There is a "Save St. Walburge's" campaign in Preston. The building has outstanding architectural merit, inside and out, which is a great blessing but also something of a complication. For example, many people in the town are concerned for St. Walburge's future, but they seem to be concerned more for the building, its place on the skyline etc., than in revitalising the Faith in the parish and the town. The bishop is a bit irritated about this - for example see this report in the Lancashire Evening Post. I can understand his irritation, particularly at the idea of a "faith quarter" which some councillors are proposing, but the building's grade I listing, and complications arising out of its recent large subsidies from English Heritage and the lottery, means that he needs to consider more than the perceived needs of parishioners when deciding the future of the parish and its church.
Nationally, the Victorian Society has listed St. Walburge's as one of its ten buildings most at risk. Again, I suppose their concern has been for the building rather than what it stands for, but their support is welcome. St. Walburge's plight has been reported nationally in publications as diverse as the Daily Telegraph, Private Eye and the Tablet, but so far as I know there's no organised national campaign.
I should point out that the diocesan review "Fit for Mission?" is recommending closure for eight churches in Preston and two in nearby villages. These include no fewer than six of the nine parishes in St. Walburge's deanery. So St. Walburge's is not the only church at risk, and nor is it the only one of significant historical and architectural merit. But if the draft proposals were to go ahead St. Walburge's would be the first parish and church to close.
Here's what I think: The draft "Fit for Mission?" report is a depressing document which seems to be about managing an inevitable decline. I don't think decline is inevitable; I think we need a dynamic and faithful response to allow us to fill our churches, not close them. The immediate problem is a lack of priests. We have some admirable priests in Lancaster diocese: young(ish), orthodox, hard-working men - but not enough to go round. Summorum Pontificum is providential for us in Lancaster diocese in particular, coming as it does as the "Fit for Mission?" review is in progress. It encourages bishops to provide for the traditional faithful and reminds them that they can erect personal parishes. In the circumstances I should have thought that a personal parish under the care of the ICKSP (or the FSSP) would be an appropriate solution for at least one parish in our deanery. I think that would bear good fruit. St. Walburge's itself is a suitable candidate parish - it's first on the list for closure; it has no resident parish priest, being served from the next-door parish (my own parish of the Sacred Heart); it's very well suited to the traditional liturgy and, unlike the diocese, the ICKSP is not worried about the financial commitment to the building. If St. Walburge's were to close that would represent a clear failure of mission to the people of Preston; if it were to be revitalised that would send an equally clear but different message. I don't think the diocese has a plan for revitalisation, but the ICKSP does. The Holy Father is giving strong support to the traditional liturgy, and I hope this will bear fruit here in Preston.
I found the Wikipedia entry on Sts. Mary & Everilda, Everingham. The history of the village and church seems remarkably similar to that of Claughton, near Preston, where Fr. Stephen Cross celebrates the traditional mass from time to time. He has been a great supporter of the Latin Mass Society in Lancaster Diocese. Do you know why Bishop Crowley turned down the ICKSP's offer to take over the parish at Everingham? It doesn't seem to make sense.
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