Good News from Preston, England

I reported on this good news about a historic church in danger of closing in Preston, England, earlier this year. On Sunday, September 27, the Institute of Christ the King celebrated the first Solemn High Mass in St. Walburge's in the presence of Bishop Michael Campbell of the Lancaster Diocese, who invited the Institute to take over the church and establish a shrine for Eucharistic Adoration!

You may find pictures of the Mass here and here. This is the second church in England saved by a diocese and the Institute of Christ the King. The Church of St. Peter, St. Paul and St. Philomena in New Brighton, Diocese of Shrewsbury was the first:

The majestic dome of the little altered Catholic church of Ss. Peter, Paul & St. Philomena, New Brighton, dominates the Wirral skyline at its tip, opposite Liverpool’s famous maritime frontage. During the Second World War the church was nicknamed the ‘Dome of Home’ by merchant seamen returning in their convoys across the Atlantic. Once they spotted the dome they knew they were safe from the ever present threat of U-boat attack.

The church was closed in 2008 due to concerns about the cost of repair. There followed an enthusiastic local campaign to save the building and in 2012 it reopened under the aegis of the Institute of Christ the King. With full support from the Diocese of Shrewsbury, the church is now established as a Shrine Church for the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and celebration of the Liturgy in the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Open 8am until 8pm daily, this church welcomes anyone wishing to escape the modern rat-race for a few minutes and appreciate the peace in its wonderful Baroque interior. One of the few remaining vestiges of New Brighton's heyday, this prominent landmark is, as Bishop Davies calls it, “a Beacon of Hope” to us all.