Fr Des Devenney Induction as Parish Priest of Our Lady and St Wulstan on Sunday 14 December 2025
Something Greater
Our eight week course billed as a foundation course for catechesis and other ministries has now come to a close. It was very much a pilot for Something Greater, which has been devised by Paul Northam from our diocesan Office for Mission. Paul generously came to every session himself and helped us in many ways, but we are also grateful to the local speakers who showed that this model could work for other deaneries too. The average attendance was 19 each week, which was comfortable for the room, and we knew that others would have joined if we had been somewhere larger. The picture shows many of the group with Brenden Thompson from Word on Fire UK who led our session in week 7 on Holiness: Christian life and Prayer.
We hope to follow up this course in two ways i) a second term covering other topics in a similar format, and also looking at specific areas of ministry which people are taking part in or hoping to develop, and ii) also a local network of catechists who want to develop and support each other further across our Banbury and Warwick deanery. Other ideas have also arisen which we may well be able to take forward in our deanery or more widely in our area of the diocese- Watch this space!
Thank you to everyone who attended for your interest and support of this project. Canon David
Something Greater, beginning 10th September link
Who will be sharing the faith with children and adults in your parish in future years? We are beginning a foundation for catechesis and other lay ministries in our deanery with a course called Something Greater, and hope that all parishes within reach of Warwick will send one or two people along to refresh their knowledge of the faith we are wanting to pass on to others. In the process we hope people will be able to discern their own callings more clearly and discover other courses and ways to develop our ministries.
2025 Harvington Hall Pilgrimage
Sunday 7 September news story https://www.birminghamdiocese.org.uk/news/pilgrims-gather-at-harvington-hall-to-honour-the-english-martyrs
Martyrs Walk
On Sunday 17 August , with groups from Whitnash, Leamington and Warwick each led by an icon of one of the Warwick Martyrs, and converging at the top of Gallows Hill to pray Vespers together.
The site of the gallows, on a hillside overlooking Warwick is sadly not marked by a sign, but was about 150 m NW of the resited trigonometry point at the roadside of Gallows Hill adjacent to a new housing development. Many people were put to death there over the years, but the three Catholic Martyrs are commemorated with an annual pilgrimage and prayer walk generally close to the anniversary of the martyr Bl William Freeman’s death in August.
Photographs link
Diaconate Ordination of Paul Milton- Sunday 13 July
Diocesan Fundraising Campaign
On Thursday 21st June 36 clergy and lay people, mainly from our deanery, met to hear a presentation from the Chief Operating Officer of the diocese, Eric Kirwan, about a planned giving campaign which will begin in September. It was explained that on average attendance at Mass had dropped by 30% over the last decade, and that regular giving had remained static while costs had increased by almost 50%. The giving campaign will seek to inform and motivate people to support the mission of the church, and those attending appreciated a chance to understand how all the faithful can play a fuller part in securing the future of parishes in our area.
Featured Church photographs: St Anne’s Wappenbury link
Chrism Mass – Wednesday 16 April link
Most of the clergy of our deanery took part in the Chrism Mass, at which the Holy Oils were blessed and consecrated for our parishes. These pictures include one of our stocks being filled for our deanery.
The following is taken from the Archbishop’s homily:
Our priesthood is enriched by the spirituality and pastoral zeal of our parishioners and we continue to be formed and inspired by the witness of their holiness and generosity.
He has anointed me. What we have received through the Sacrament of Orders is a grace, a charism, a gift. We didn’t earn it and we’re not entitled to it – it’s not transactional. It has been showered upon us in abundance. And it’s the same with the fruits if our ministry – they will never show up on a balance sheet – only God can reckon our spiritual surplus or our deficit. We are not the best judges of the impact of our own priestly ministry – or, as the Latin phrase puts it: Nemo sibi judex.
In 1963, the year when Blessed Dominic Barberi was beatified in Rome, Archbishop Francis Grimshaw was at the Second Vatican Council. The Archbishop sent a Pastoral Letter from Rome, in which he described Blessed Dominic:
The years he lived in were dramatic years in the story of the Catholic Church in England. Great figures occupied the stage. It is possible that among them this Italian priest, wearing a strange habit, speaking our language with difficulty and with an atrocious accent, was not recognised at the time as one of the protagonists. The best work for souls is often that which is done quietly, through a lifetime of unobtrusive self-denial and self-sacrifice, by one who sees the image of God where another sees only human nature at its weakest and its worst.
So, as we prepare for the Renewal of our Priestly Promises, may we pledge ourselves to bring the forgiveness and love of God, like Blessed Dominic, to the people and situations where it is most needed – and let us always pray for one another, grateful for the sacramental anointing which we have received from Christ.
Leamington cluster/Mission newsletter Extra April 2025.
Deanery Day Pilgrimage to Littlemore, Oxford – Saturday 22 March link
Rite of Election – Sunday 9 March 2025
In this season of Lent we pray for all the catechumens of our diocese preparing to be Baptised and the candidates for Reception into Full Communion. Some of our parishes were represented at the Rite of Election at St Chad’s on Sunday 9th March, where the Bishops welcomed the 200 or so known to be joining the Church, Fr David.
Clergy Deanery Meeting – Tuesday 11 March 2025
The clergy of our Deanery met with Bishop Richard for a full agenda at Hampton on the Hill this month. We had plenty to talk about with Bishop Richard including the request from our diocese to think ahead a few years about which buildings we will need in the medium term as less Masses can be celebrated by fewer clergy. Pray for your priests and deacons, and for more to follow in our footsteps!
