Message from Father Jim
15th November 2026
Pope Leo’s visit to South America this last week offers a powerful reminder that the Church is very much alive. Across the communities he visited, millions of people came out to welcome him, demonstrating an enormous affection, enthusiasm and connection with the Church and its spiritual leadership. What struck me particularly is that these gatherings represent something much deeper than the welcome given to an individual Pope. They reflect a faith that remains deeply rooted in people’s lives, families and communities. There is a hunger for belonging, hope, spiritual direction and a sense of something greater than ourselves. The Church is not simply its buildings, its institutions or its structures. It is its people.
The most important message for us in the Church in Europe, where we sometimes become preoccupied with declining attendance, ageing congregations and institutional challenges, is that we should not mistake the difficulties we experience for the depth of faith in peoples’ lives. Perhaps Pope Leo’s visit is a timely reminder that, while the Church must continually reflect, adapt and renew itself, its greatest strength remains its people and the Gospel message it carries.
Newsletter
This week’s newsletter can be viewed here
Vatican News
The Vatican news widget is now onsite so the latest news from the Vatican can be accessible from the right hand side of this page under the menu, or alternatively click here for a larger display.
Contributions to Sacred Heart & St Anne
Donations can be made via the collection plate in Church or direct from your bank account, the details of which can be found here
If you pay tax please consider adding gift aid to your contribution which would enable the parish to claim an extra 25% courtesy of the taxman at no cost to yourself. If this is something you would like to consider please contact me here with your phone and email address and I will ask Margaret, our gift aid co-ordinater, to get in touch.
Current gift aid donors can ignore this paragraph as we will pick up the information from their names if they donate online.
In addition we now have online card terminals in both of our churches; at St Anne’s in the rear area near the side door and in Sacred Heart on the left hand side when facing front door (from central aisle) , by the statue of St Thérèse.
Both machines are capable of accepting card and contactless payments for various donations and for piety goods. Donations can also be gift aided, if selected you will need to enter your name, house number and post code (this will be a one off exercise as the terminal will remember your details for future visits)
The terminal is simple to use, just tap the screen and follow the prompts.
Past Memories
Recent events including Veronica’s birthday and memories from much longer ago can always be found on our History & Archive pages
Parish Facebook
In order to be able to keep parishioners informed whenever Father Jim makes any communications or when the website is updated with newsletters etc we have created a Parish Facebook page.
If you have a facebook account please visit and like the page so that you will then be automatically notified whenever this website is updated otherwise please visit this page periodically to check for any updates
For those parishioners without a facebook account I have embedded a feed from it below so everyone will be able to access the latest 5 postings to the page
(Please note not all browsers will display the feed)
