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Archive Record
GB ARCHON 2913 PA28-01-01-253-1 · Part · undated (post 1878)
Part of Our Lady of the Annunciation Parish, King's Lynn

Text from cutting:
DEATH OF THE REV. A. F. WALSH (R. C.).- The Diamond Fields Advertiser, published at Kimberley, South Africa, of September 19th, contains the following obituary notice of the late Father Walsh, who was for some years Mission priest at Lynn, and, going out to the Cape in 1875, fulfilled his duty in various places there, and amongst others, with the British troops in the South African wars, in the zealous and self-denying manner described by the biographer:- 
Weeping women and men bowed down with grief clustered round the doors of the Roman Catholic Church and priests' residences on Saturday evening. Good cause had they for sorrow. At five o'clock the spirit of a brave and good man had passed away from earth, leaving a void in all that is noble and pure in Kimberley, which it will be hard to fill up. Andrew Francis Walsh had not only gone through the form of setting apart his life for the service of others, but up to the last had performed the vows of that high servitude to the letter. Born in County Tipperary in 1839, he evinced at an early age strong aspirations after spiritual life, and his determination to enter the priesthood was but the outcome of an inward conviction that therein lay his path of duty. His collegiate studies began at Carlow, and subsequently he passed some time at Bruges, Belgium. Having completed his training for the sacred calling, he was stationed for a period in England, chiefly at Nottingham. He allied himself with one of the religious brotherhoods of his Church, and he was despatched to South Africa in March, 1875. Several Sisters, amongst whom was the Rev. Mother now in Kimberley, accompanied him to the Cape. Father Walsh was located in various parts of South Africa. He was the first Roman Catholic minister at Pretoria. Afterwards he opened up a mission at Lydenburg, which for a time proved a busy field for religious work, and only declined when the place fell away as a gold bearing region. He was the pioneer priest of Jagersfontein, where he laboured with great acceptance for three years. He was transferred to Kimberley about two years ago. This is a brief and imperfect sketch of the various spheres of ministerial service in which Father Walsh worked earnestly and lovingly. But it is in another field of duty that he earned name and fame. Wherever in South Africa British soldier or volunteer has been called upon during the last seven years to fight the battles of his Queen, there Father Walsh considered it was his place to be. In the Zulu war and the Transvaal war he attached himself to the British troops as chaplain, and invariably contrived to gain the love and respect of the soldiers no matter what creed they professed. He was fearless in administering rebuke, and unflinching in giving caution and advice; the tenderest of nurses, the most unselfish of comrades. Often and often has he been known to break through the lines and go foraging around in the enemy's country in quest of fruits and vegetables or other succulent herbs for the fever-stricken or wounded patients, with whom he felt all a brother's sympathy. Laden with these spoils of a dangerous expedition - conducted all alone - he would return to camp, doff his coat, chop up sufficient wood for a fire, and then cook the delicacies he had gathered with solicitous hand, serving them to the sick with a touching tenderness that proved in many a case more than half the cure. When reminded of the danger to which he had exposed himself he would simply say: "Others must not do it, but I must. I cannot see these poor men suffering without doing something for them." In the hour of battle he presented an example of calm cool courage almost heroic. Ever watchful that the wounded were not left to be trampled down or ruthlessly done to death, he has been known time after time to have rushed from the shelter of a laager towards some fallen soldier pierced by bullet or assegai, and borne him swiftly and safely away beyond the reach of further danger. He was one of the numerous subjects of Her Majesty who in many an engagement has won the right to the Victoria Cross, if ever true valour won it; but the innate modesty of this truly brave, and thoroughly unselfish man, made him shrink from anything like a trumpeting of his deeds. "My duty" was his motto, and never did priest militant or loving pastor do that duty more loyally. In the Bechuanaland expedition, to which he was attached as chaplain, he was simply idolised by the soldiers. No duty was too arduous, no service too menial for him, when called upon amid the exigencies of camp life. In Kimberley the record of his pure and useful career will be long so remembered. His faith went beyond the boundaries of his own Church, his charity recognised no creed, the poor and sick knew him only as a ministrant of good. Stricken down last Sunday - just after he had been assisting in public worship - with inflammation of the lungs, he gradually sank, notwithstanding the constant attentions of Dr. Jameson, combined latterly with those of Dr. Matthews, until, as we have said, he breathed his last about five o'clock on Saturday evening. Let those who mourn his departure remember, with Petrarch, that 
"Death betimes is comfort, not dismay; 
And who can rightly die needs no delay."

Unknown
"The Praise of Famous Men"
GB ARCHON 2913 PA02-06-05-10 · Item · after 1955
Part of Our Lady and St Peter Parish, Aldeburgh

Discussion document about "Diocesan Worthies" and a summary of the lives of:
Husenbeth of Costessey 1769 - 1872
Canon Collis 1821 - 1893
Canon P Rogers 1832 - 1918
Fr Clemente 1845 - 1918
Rev J Tonks 1863 - 1943
Provost J Freeland 1861 - 1940

Unknown
Papal Nuncio Visit to RCDEA
GB ARCHON 2913 COL03-14 · File · c June 1987
Part of RCDEA Photographs

Papal Nuncio visited RCDEA and a photographic record exists for OLEM, Cambridge; Walsingham; St John's Primary School, Heigham Road, Norwich; Norwich Cathedral [Anglican]

Michael Manni Photographic
GB ARCHON 2913 DEA-09-02-02-38-2 · Part · 3 January 2020
Part of Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia (RCDEA)

Story 1: "at the end of last year Bienn Carlo Manuntag, a seminarian from the Diocese of East Anglia, took another step in his journey towards priesthood when he received the Ministry of Acolyte". Story contnues. Image of Bienn Carlo receiving the bread from Bishop Philip Egan; Image of Bienn Carlo with Bishop Egan and another seminarian.
Story 2: "The parish of Our Lady and St Thomas of Canterbury in Wymonsham has given a warm vwelcome to its new assistant priest, Fr Denis Gallagher." Story continues. Image of Fr Gallagher serving weekly open lunch.

The Catholic Universe (1860-2021)
GB ARCHON 2913 DEA-09-02-02-99-2 · Part · 17 March 2023
Part of Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia (RCDEA)

"Fr Dennis Finbow, a retired priest of served in parishes in Peterborough the diocese of East Anglia, has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years in jail after he was convicted for three historic (non-recent) child sexual abuse offences. The sentence was passed down at Cambridge Crown Court and follows his conviction at Huntingdon Crown on 31st January." Story continues.

Universe Catholic Weekly (2021-)
GB ARCHON 2913 NTM-02-03-2 · Item · May 1970
Part of Northampton Diocesan Travelling Mission - Fr McCormick

Copy of a page from PACE May 1970. Text:

The Land Rover Priest at Work
“Old Faithful” makes the Mission's wheels turn

The miles between in a far-flung diocese such as Northampton is one of the reasons why – as we enter the 70s – a Travelling Mission is still so necessary.

In this article, Father R L McCormick tells something of his work over the past 12 years.

Nearly ten years ago I sat down to write the first edition of 'Travelling Mission News' which turned out to be a qualified success. I use the word "qualified" intentionally because I was soon to discover the difficulties and limitations attached to the production and circulation of a one man news sheet. It was due to these difficulties that I had to give up the production of the news sheet in 1966.

The editor of Pace however is now hoping that I will be able to provide him with some Travelling Mission news for each monthly edition of the paper.

At the end of 1958 Bishop Parker appointed me to the work of the Travelling Mission and at the beginning of 1959 I started on this work. I recall that Bishop Parker gave me a fortnight in which to make up my mind whether to accept the job or not. He said he hoped my answer would be yes, but that if I felt that I would “go off the rails" on this kind of work then he hoped I would tell him so. I am glad to say that I am still on the job, and as far as I know, still “on the rails"!

I joined Canon Hulme on the job which he had started at the end of the 1940's We worked together for about a year. Then Canon Hulme was appointed to Bedford, since which time I have been on my own in this work.

But what is the work of the Travelling Mission which I have talked about? Surely, you say, there is hardly any need for mission work in England?

REALLY RURAL
Much of the diocese is rural, parishes are relatively few which means that many villages and small towns not only do not have their own parish church, but that they are frequently a number of miles from the nearest one. The mission work is aimed at doing something for the Catholics who live in the villages and towns of these rural areas, in conjunction with the work and wishes of the parish priests. The work revolves round a rota of what I call 'quarterly Mass centres'. A quarterly Mass centre is a village or town in which I offer Mass each quarter and at the same time give the local Catholics the opportunity of having their children baptised if they so desire. Each Sunday I offer Mass in two and very often three such centres. I can only come once every three months because of the large extent of the diocese.

Some people who very often live on the doorstep of their own parish church, question the usefulness of having Mass on such an infrequent basis. My answer is that it is always beneficial and therefore useful to get the local Catholics together in their own home villages or towns for the purpose of offering the sacrifice of the Mass. The quarterly Mass also gives the people the opportunity of getting to know each other as members of the same community. It gives them the opportunity of talking to a priest and it gives them a realisation them with the means to be the visible church in their own localities.

VERY CURIOUS
I live in the villages where I work and usually stay with a local family. A point of interest which has always intrigued me is that I very often receive much more spontaneous hospitality from non-Catholics than I do from Catholics. I have never quite worked out why! I suspect that perhaps some Catholics think that a priest lives off a golden platter and so are somewhat afraid to offer hospitality in case they might not come up to standard, whereas the non-Catholic looks upon the priest as just another human being in need of bed and board. I hasten to add that once I am known in the district there is no shortage of hospitality.

Where do I have Mass? Until relatively recently I have used village halls, British Legion halls, public house rooms, private sitting rooms, stately homes, theatres, a boxing ring, and the open air. Now that I can use the Church of England parish churches in quite a few places the question of where to have Mass is becoming less of a problem than it has been.

I book each place where I have Mass for two hours. I allow myself half an hour in which to get the place ready - setting up the portable altar, putting out chairs and kneelers, setting the large tape-recorder to play ‘holy music’ until Mass begins, setting up the large carved statue of Our Lady in some suitable spot, giving out the Mass leaflets and finally giving the whole place a good whiff of best Prinknash incense to smother any noxious odours left over from any riotous sessions the previous Saturday evening. (Particularly in village halls and pubs). I then hear confessions for half an hour, half an hour for Mass and finally, half an hour to get packed up again and ready to move on to the next centre. This repeated three times on a Sunday makes a fair day's work.

THIRSTY WORK
How do I carry my kit?, and what do I get around the diocese in? - Land Rover. This vehicle whilst having a remarkable thirst for petrol proves to be about the best for the job. (I am not being paid by the Rover Company!). My kit weighs about five cwts and this has to be carried everywhere I go day in and day out, month in and month out. People have to be picked up from the farms and cottages and brought to Mass on many occasions and transported home afterwards (of course). I have found that the Land Rover is about the only vehicle able to stand up to this constant heavy usage without heavy repair bills. In the winter the Land Rover comes into its own because with its four-wheel drive it is able to keep going when most have stopped. I often feel that I do more good with the Land Rover during the winter months pulling cars out of snowdrifts than by several years of preaching!

What do I do during the week? This is a question more often asked by the mere cynical clerical colleagues of mine! About four days are spent in the village areas where I have the Mass centres – finding and visiting the people, arranging for instructions for the children, smoothing out arrangements for using places for Mass. On the weekdays when I am in the villages I have morning Mass at the houses where I stay. One full day (made up of two separate half-days) is spent travelling to and from the work areas. The other two days are spent writing letters and Mass notices - at the moment I have about 75 outgoing mail items per week.

SLOW CHANGE
Do the Mass centres always remain the same? No, there is a slow evolutionary process going on. Each year I hand over about four of my quarterly centres to the parishes so that the centre can be served on a much more frequent basis than my quarterly one. When I hand over a centre then I am able to bring in a district from the waiting list and so the process starts again. Sometimes on the other hand I have to close a centre because of a shift in Catholic population or because of a failure on the part of the local Catholics to respond to the opportunity of having Mass in their locality.

The average attendance at the mission Masses is 34 at the moment. Over half receive Penance and Holy Communion. About one-third who attend go to Mass irrespective of whether I am there or not, and another third could go to Mass regularly despite some difficulty and the remaining third are unable to go on a regular basis.

That then is a sketchy outline of the work of the Travelling Mission. In future editions it will, perhaps, be possible to relate some of this general picture to the detail and colour of particular localities.

McCormick, Robert L. Rev (-2015)
Canon Duckett and 4 priests
GB ARCHON 2913 MIS-07-17-1-25 · Part · c1913
Part of Miscellaneous Deposits

Rev Francis Murphy
Rev (now canon) Patrick John Grogan
The late Very Rev Canon Richard Duckett DD - annotation " 'The' Canon"
The late Rev George Wrigglesworth
Rev Philip Murphy

GB ARCHON 2913 DEA-09-02-02-60-3 · Part · 12 February 2021
Part of Roman Catholic Diocese of East Anglia (RCDEA)

"East Anglian priest Fr Mike Brookes recently gave a radio interview about his work as a chaplain at the West Suffolk Hospital, and how it has changed in the face of the Covid pandemic. Fr Mike Brookes is relatively recently ordained priest; prior to joining the clergy he was a nurse for 25 years. That career has left him with great empathy for both the people he works with in the hospital and a developed understanding of the needs of patients and their loved ones." Story continues.
Image 1: Fr Mike Brookes
Image 2: Ambulances

The Catholic Universe (1860-2021)