Westminster Record December 2011
West Green: St John Vianney By Jo Siedlecka One of the first things you notice about St John Vianney’s, West Green, is the strong sense of a welcoming community. The parish history, compiled by Barbara O’Driscoll (which won a prize in the recent diocesan communications awards) exemplifies this – it contains descriptions and photographs of the present parish team and activities and little biographies of all the past team members – but there are also many stories and photographs of past parishioners and a lovely section on people who have been in the parish for more than 30 years. More than 200! There has been a church in West Green Road, South Tottenham, since 1927. The present building was opened by Cardinal Godfrey in 1959. Throughout that time it was served by the Canons Regular and SMA Fathers, before coming under the care of the diocese in 2003 when Fr Joe Ryan became parish priest. The parish sister is Sr Stephanie Green OLA. Since 2006, the parish has been the base for Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace Commission. Barbara Kentish is the diocesan fieldworker based there. The parish has had its own school since 1974. In 1991, the parish hall was burnt down by vandals, but the project rose from the ashes when they bought the Fox/Silver Lady pub next door which is now used for many community activities. St John Vianney’s supports a homeless soup run and has several prayer groups meeting every day of the week. Other groups include: Legion of Mary, Knights of St Columba, Afro Caribbean, Arts, Mothers & Toddlers, Young People, Senior Citizens, Italian
Above: Fr Joe with the parish catechists right: Exterior of St John Vianney’s
Club, yoga group, and Special Needs. St John Vianney’s is also part of the diocesan chaplaincy to the Travelling Community. I arrived before the 11am Mass. The parish hall was a hive of activity. People were chatting together and lining up to see Danuta McBride (pictured bottom right) to calculate their carbon footprint. “We want to see how much carbon we are using and see how we can reduce that” Danuta McBride explained. Her sister Barbara (who compiled the parish history mentioned above) told me that one of their brothers is Dominican priest Fr Wojciech Giertych, now a theologian working at the Vatican. Two sisters are nuns. Their parents were the historian Jedrzej Giertych and his wife Maria who lived locally with their nine children. “We’ve lived here all our lives” Barbara said. Claudette Iglehon who is on the parish council and has been an RCIA catechist for more than 12 years said: “One of the things I admire about this parish is the diversity of the community, and the level of involvement of people here. We really all feel part of a family.” Mariantha Fomenkey, Eucharistic Minister and head of the social and fundraising committee echoed these views, saying: “People here feel very connected.” The 11am Mass was packed, with people standing at the back of the church. During his homily, Fr Joe described how he had been invited to speak at an ecumenical service on the steps of St Paul’s Cathedral recently for the Occupy protesters and their supporters. He spoke of a report published by the St Paul’s Institute in which bankers had admitted they
earn too much. The Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace had also issued a report on world finance calling for more ethical behaviour from the banking system. “The question is, what would Jesus do,” Fr Joe said. “And the answer is - he would be anywhere where people are in difficulty, struggling – that’s the place to be.” Quoting from the day’s reading Fr Joe pointed out that faith gives us freedom of spirit – “that means freedom not fear.” After Mass I met the children’s choir, led by Paul Goddard, Dinithi Goonatilakal and Martha da Silva. They explained that there is also a folk choir and an African one. A group of catechists, lead by Amanda Milsom was also holding a meeting to talk about the Rich Man Poor Man meal they were organising in the following week. They also discussed Christmas Masses and were looking forward to the arrival of Fr Samuel Donso who will be visiting from Ghana over the holidays. Germaine Ng Ying has worked at the parish since 2001. She said: “This is a lovely warm parish. I love working here. No two days are the same and there are a lot of people really working together.” Fr Joe Ryan comes from Thurles in Co Tipperary. He served in Hanwell, South Harrow, Northolt, Somerstown, Hatfield and North Harrow before coming to West Green. He said: “This is a wonderful parish and it is an honour and privilege to minister here. The variety of cultures and the gathering of different nationalities is so challenging and enriching at the same time. The support of the community is so uplifting and encouraging to my ministry as a priest. Praise the Lord!”
Sunday Mass times: (Saturday evening Vigil 6pm) 9am, 11am (sung) For more information visit: www.rcdow.org.uk/westgreen Email: westgreen@rcdow.org.uk or Tel: 020 8801 3043 4 Vincent Road, London N15
Danuta McBride