A LACK of Catholic priests in the Island has forced one church community to travel to another parish for Sunday mass, which has led to claims of a ‘loss of identity’.
The congregation at St Matthieu Church in St Peter no longer have access to a 9.30am service, with the only available service at that time in the Island on Sundays now taking place at St Bernadette Church in St Brelade.
Clive Cooper, the organist and choirmaster at St Matthieu, has been involved with the church for the past 48 years.
He said: ‘We have our own identity [but] suddenly the rug has been pulled from under our feet and suddenly there is no [Sunday] mass.
‘You can move masses but you can’t move communities.’
St Matthieu regularly attracted 80-to-90 people to its 9.30am Sunday mass, and is this year celebrating its 150th anniversary.
Mr Cooper insisted that the church was not closed, but admitted there was now ‘a complete lack of Catholic priests on the Island’.
In response, he suggested rotating Sunday mass services at different churches in the Island each week.
If nothing is done, he said it could lead to the ‘complete demise’ of historic St Matthieu’s.
He added: ‘The church is totally devastated. They are all kind to Canon Dominic [Golding, Catholic Dean of Jersey] about it, but deep down they are really sad.’
Mr Cooper claimed the end of the service could also lead to ‘a loss of community’.
He said: ‘People from St Matthieu’s are not going to be rushing to go there [St Bernadette Church].
‘There is not going to be a sudden influx of people.’
The current atmosphere is in stark contrast to last month’s 150th anniversary at St Matthieu’s, which was marked on 4 September and attended by the Rt Rev Philip Egan, the Bishop of Portsmouth, and Canon Golding.
Canon Golding was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.
