Fond farewell to ‘wonderful’ parish priest Father Antony

St Anthony and Our Lady of Mercy Parish in Hull came together to bid farewell to Father Antony Chundelikkat at a packed Sunday morning Mass.

Father Antony was celebrating his final Mass as our parish priest before moving to a new parish in Cheam.

It was a celebration that was tinged with sadness as we were saying goodbye to a truly wonderful priest.

Father Antony arrived in 2014 and was only meant to stay for a year, but in the end, much to everyone’s delight, he stayed for eight!

He brought such happiness into our lives. When he spoke to you, or greeted you in the street, he had a unique gift of making you feel very special.

Going to Mass was a joy because he was full of life and fun and made it a real celebration. He brought everyone together as a parish family.

In addition to his duties as parish priest, he is also the pro-vicar general to the Indian community throughout the United Kingdom. This entails a great deal of responsibility and travel. How he managed it all and still looked after his parish is a wonder to us all.

There was a buffet reception after Mass during which speeches were made and Father Antony was presented with a cheque, a specially commissioned mini statue of St Anthony and a stole with his name embroidered into it.

We wish him every happiness in his new parish and we welcome Father Joseph Pinakkattu as our new parish priest. We are truly grateful that he has chosen to come to us and look forward to giving him all our help and support in the years to come.