CATHOLIC authorities in Wirral are understood to have spent tens of thousands of pounds to repair an Anglican church they are trying to force their unwilling parishioners to move into for weekly services. The revelation comes as campaigners continue to battle to save the landmark Ss Peter and Paul’s church, in New Brighton, from imminent closure.
And documents seen show that Catholic authorities have been negotiating behind the scenes with the Anglican church to first share one of their properties and then potentially buy it.
The campaigners are angry that assets they estimate at some £350,000 donated by parishioners – but in an account controlled by the Diocese – are not being used to benefit their church, known affectionately as the Dome of Home.
Instead, money from the Catholic church is being used to refurbish the Anglican All Saints church, outside New Brighton, which many of the Catholic parishioners say they do not want to use for worship.
Fr John Joyce, spokesman for the Shrewsbury Diocese, refused to comment, saying only: “The bishop stands by exactly what he said in a recent statement. The church is closing and we have nothing further to add.”
Churchgoers were told on Saturday, July 5, that Ss Peter and Paul’s would close this month, August 17, much earlier than initially expected.
But a letter between senior Anglican officials, dated July 1, already describes a three-year plan to share the Anglican All Saints church, with a view to the Shrewsbury Diocese buying it later.
It also shows discussions about building work at All Saints were well advanced by June 20, weeks before the Catholic congregation were told of the earlier-than-expected closure of their church and told of the sharing arrangement.
It is widely believed that the Anglican church, which had seen falling attendances and needed much work to bring it up to standard, had itself faced closure, until the Catholic authorities expressed an interest in it.
The letter said the Shrewsbury Diocese was “keen to be able to use All Saints on an early time-scale under the sharing agreement” and talks of religious items which need to be placed in the Anglican church to make it suitable for Catholic Masses, which it said may be relocated from the existing Roman Catholic church.
In recent days, campaigners against the church’s closure have launched a legal challenge against the Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury which oversees their parish.
It has been revealed that parishioners were demanding an inquiry into how the hundreds of thousands of pounds they have donated to the New Brighton parish had been spent, after it was learned no repairs had been carried out to their church in recent years.
A spokesman for the pressure group SOUL (Save Our Unique Landmark), which was set up by local people to fight the closure of the church, said they were pursuing legal challenges and were awaiting advice on obtaining an injunction about the closure.
He added: “We are also following this up with the Vatican, because, judging from the letter we received from them which voiced concern about the sharing arrangement, they do not seem very happy about the Bishop’s plans.”
New Brighton councillor Tony Pritchard, a supporter of SOUL, said he believed the Catholic church had led its parishioners in New Brighton “up the garden path”.
He said: “People have donated to the church, believing the money was for the upkeep of the building and to pay for the priest. It was donated in good faith.
“To find money has been withheld from their church, but is suddenly available to be spent on another church, will upset a lot of people.
“We thought we were talking to the diocese about the future of Ss Peter and Paul’s, but it seems that at the same time they have been in secret negotiations over All Saints.”
Parishioners had been told the church was considering three options – build a new church, modify and repair the existing church or sharing with another church, with closure not expected until Easter, 2009.
But, in a letter read out to congregations last month, the Diocese of Shrewsbury’s Bishop Brian Noble told church-goers that modification of the present building would cost £700,000, plus the £888,000 already required for repair work – and told them to share the Anglican church instead.
SOUL has disputed these figures and had its own estimates for repairs made, which it says would be around half what Shrewsbury Diocese has said.
It is widely rumoured the Catholic church has spent £50,000 on repairs and alterations to All Saints church, although a spokesman for the Anglican Diocese of Chester said he could not discuss the precise amount of money paid by the Catholic authorities towards it.
But he said: “You would expect someone sharing a building to make a contribution towards it.
“If you are going to make changes to a church, it’s going to cost money. Attending to decoration costs a lot of money.”
Although no permanent changes can be made to the Anglican church without extensive consultation, the spokesman admitted there had been a time some years ago when the closure of All Saints was “on the cards”, but fund-raising by parishioners had saved it.
He added that, although it was “very sad for anyone to lose their place of worship”, the Diocese of Chester is “very happy to be entering into this sharing arrangement” and that it is a “positive ecumenical move”.
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