2015/16 Parish Report
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& Our Lady Christ the King of Lourdes with St. Augustine’s Annual Parish Report 2015/16 Welcome to our Annual Parish Report. Inside On behalf of myself, Fr Andrew, our Parish Deacons Fr Eamon Clarke and Sisters, we thank you for all the support that you Christ the King FC give us. Thankyou for your generosity, not only Year of Mercy financially but in the way so many of you volunteer to Parish Pilgrimages help in the many Parish activities. Parish Events The report also remembers Father Eamon Clarke who Children & Young died this year and who served as Parish Priest of Christ People the King for 13 years (1993-2006). Generous Outreach This report highlights some of the improvements we have made, and Parish Finance and gives you an insight into some aspects of Parish life and activity. Statistics The photograph above shows the new lighting scheme at the front of General Information Christ the King Church. It has improved the appearance of the Church Contact details and made it more welcoming for evening Masses and Funeral Receptions. At St Augustine's the church has been re-roofed and both churches have been painted externally. These are some of the improvements carried out on our Parish property this year. Fr Tom Telephone: 024 76591618 Website: www.ctk-cov.org.uk Email: [email protected] Fr Eamon Clarke 1935-2016 RIP Born 14th March 1935 Ordained in Dublin, 12th March, 1960 Holy Family, Coventry, 1960 – 1966 Catholic Missionary Society, London, 1966-1968 Weoley Castle, Birmingham, 1968-1969 Newman College, Birmingham, 1969-1988 St Anthony’s, Oxford, 1988-1993 Christ the King, Coventry, 1993-2006 Retired, St Augustine’s, Kenilworth, 2006-2016 Died 9th April 2016 Fr Eamon Clarke was Parish Priest here at Christ the King for thirteen years and Ordained a Priest for 56 years. His body was received into Christ the King on Tuesday 19th April and was followed by Mass where the homily was given by his lifelong friend Monsignor David Cousins. His Requiem Mass was on Wednesday 20th April. Archbishop Bernard Longley celebrated Mass with three Bishops and over fifty Priests. The Homily was given by Fr Tom and some of it is repeated below. Fr Eamon is buried at Oscott College Cemetery. It is often said that you always remember a good teacher and certainly Father Eamon Clarke is remembered as an excellent teacher and preacher. Many have spoken of his excellent sermons and feeling that they were listening to a person who had many years of learning at his finger tips. Most of Father Eamon’s priestly life was spent working with teachers and helping to train them explaining the scriptures and showing them the importance of learning. A number of people have spoken of his infectious love of philosophy and theology. He surrounded himself with books and even in retirement had over twenty thousand volumes. They were never just ornaments and were constantly referred to. His wide range of interests in history, literature, theology, philosophy, classical music, film and opera meant that he could draw on a rich store for any of his talks and sermons. He was one of the first Priests in the Diocese to promote the Ministry of Deacons and you can see the fruit of his labour today in the Parish. His view of the Church was never insular and he could analyse political, social and ecclesiastical changes in an insightful way. Whenever you visited Eamon, you never had to worry about the conversation drying up or embarrassing silences. Just a few days before he died we were treated to his analysis of the 1916 Easter Rising and its continuing influence on modern day Ireland. Father Eamon was happy to do this with all sorts of people and he used philosophical and theological skills to proclaim the Gospel. In these days of religious extremism and social upheaval, having a wider view is always important. He always enjoyed the company of his brother Brian, perhaps one of the few people who could match him intellectually and they enjoyed holidays together and when Eamon became more housebound he enjoyed Brian’s visits from Spain. It was providential that Brian was here with him at the time of his death. Eamon was always grateful for visits during his retirement. At heart, Eamon was always proud of his Dublin roots and spoke often of his parents Andrew and Elizabeth and his regular visits to the Quays in Dublin which was the Book Shop quarter of the City, but for the last sixty years has made this Diocese his home. Telephone: 024 76591618 Website: www.ctk-cov.org.uk Email: [email protected] Christ the King Football Club Our Football Club celebrates its 70th Anniversary in 2016. The years celebrations started on Friday 22nd January at 7.00pm, with Mass and then followed a social evening in the Parish centre at Christ the King. In 1946 Fr Peter Tuite, the curate at Christ the King had the idea of forming a football team to give the youth of the parish an organised game each week, and so with the help of some Parishioners Christ the King Football Club was born. Dave Parnell - One team in the youth league developed into 3 teams in the Trustee & Vice Chairman 1950s, 2 senior and 1 youth side. This was the shape of the club for years to follow. It was during the 1980s that the club started to grow with the formation of Sunday Junior leagues in Coventry. The club has developed to such an extent that today it has 34 teams, including junior sides, playing on a Saturday and Sunday. There are some notable names to come through the ranks: Peter Wyer & Dietmar Bruck, both Coventry City, Gareth Evans of Hibernian and more recently Callum Wilson with Bournemouth, John O’ Farrell - Former Player & Conor Thomas of Coventry, and Daniel Crowley at Arsenal. The Life Long Supporter Club also has the proud record of being undefeated at the Ricoh, three visits remaining unbeaten. There are around 450 players who take to the park on a Saturday and Sunday in the red and white stripes of Christ the King. There are 65 qualified level one FA coaches supporting the teams. There are a whole series of events throughout the year. See club website for more information: www.christthekingfc.co.uk Jim Brown - Hon. President & Chairman of the 70th Anniversary Committee Fr Andrew at the FA Cup Final “Thanks to the kindness of Christ the King Football Club, myself and long time school friend, and fellow MUFC supporter, Danny Jones went to the FA Cup Final. We have been to many United games over the years but never to a cup final! We were delighted with the day, the game and most of all the result. It was great to see an academy player, Jesse Lingard, scoring the game winning goal against Crystal Palace. We are very grateful to our parish Football Club for their generosity.” Fr Andrew and Danny Jones Telephone: 024 76591618 Website: www.ctk-cov.org.uk Email: [email protected] Year of Mercy Pope Francis declared a “Year of Mercy” asking that the Church focus on God’s loving mercy rather than a fear of judgement and failure. The year began on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th 2015) and will run until the Feast of Christ the King (November 20th 2016). The Pope opened a Holy Door for the “Year of Mercy” in St Peter’s in Rome, but asked that Holy Doors were opened in Diocese and Deaneries around the world. The first Holy Door was opened by Francis, not in Rome but in Bangui, while on a tour of East Africa on the 29th November 2015. In Coventry the opening of the Jubilee Door took place at St Mary’s on 13th December 2015 and many parishioners attended. As the Dean of Coventry Fr Tom opened this door. The Parish also organised an evening’s retreat with Jimmy Mitchell speaking about the “Year of Mercy” and the encouragement of young people in our Parish. At the traditional Easter Monday Mass, Monsignor Pat Kilgarriff preached on the theme of Mercy and the Eucharist. All the Parishes in Coventry cancelled their Easter Monday Masses to encourage attendance at this Deanery event. The “Year of Mercy” will end on the Parish feast day of Christ Fr Tom the King and we will be having a pilgrimage to Rome and Assisi in November, when fifty people from the Parish will mark the end of the “Year of Mercy”. Jimmy Mitchell An Invitation- Come and See . We held our first Open weekend from Friday 20th November to Sunday 22th November, to invite friends and neighbours to call in and say hello and take a look around. Posters and Leaflets were distributed in the Coundon area. Each day was led by a different group in the Parish. On all 3 days there was a steady stream of visitors with one of the biggest attractions being to look at the confessional!! Monsignor Pat Kilgarriff Telephone: 024 76591618 Website: www.ctk-cov.org.uk Email: [email protected] Parish Pilgrimages As well as the planned trip for the “Year of Mercy” the Parish has been involved in a number of other pilgrimages over the last 12 months. Lourdes. 100 people from the Parish travelled to Lourdes as part of the Diocesan Pilgrimage in May 2015. 25 young people from the Parish helped with work at the hospital and assisting those in wheelchairs.