Parish Profile
Westminster Record | May 2015
Marylebone: A Warm Welcome Guaranteed By Chris O’Callaghan A warm welcome is always extended at Marylebone’s presbytery, not only by parish priest Fr Michael Johnston, but also by Finian, a cocker spaniel who has been resident in Marylebone since the end of 2013. The Church of Our Lady of the Rosary stands in a side road near the busy intersection between Edgware Road and the Marylebone flyover. It is a simple brick structure set back from the road, with the entrance to the presbytery on the right and, on the left, a hall nearing its refurbishment, thanks to Growing in Faith contributions. The interior is very different. High arches and cream walls give the church great light and it is large enough to seat 800 people. The building was opened in 1964 by Cardinal Heenan to replace the former church which was too small to serve the community at the time. Last year the parish celebrated 50 years since the church’s opening at a special Mass which was presided over by Cardinal Vincent, who stood and spoke to the congregation on the same spot where Cardinal Heenan had half a century before. The parish itself has a strange demographic. For a start, it has no schools within its boundaries, a strange experience for Fr Michael, who has been a school chaplain and governor and also a member of the Diocesan Education Commission. What the parish does have, however, is the greatest concentration of hotels of any parish in the Diocese. 121 in total are within the boundaries. This means that the congregation at Marylebone
frequently sees many tourists who are passing through or on holiday in the capital. The makeup of the parish has become more Arabic in recent years also, as many Arabs now live in the area in the newer developments. The parish also serves the less well-off from the local council estates as well. The combination of hotels and the socio-economic range makes for an eclectic group of people in the parish.
Fr Michael has been a priest for over 30 years, but has always been a Londoner through and through. Born and raised in St John’s Wood, a mile and a half from his current parish, he has served at Somers Town, Chiswick, Ruislip and Notting Hill and also served as Vocations Director for the Diocese. He says he has always tried to serve these parishes with three simple goals; to build up the community, to implement and encourage the teaching of the Second Vatican Council and to enable people to participate in parish life as fully as possible using their many gifts and talents. It is a simple credo to live by, but an important one. As Fr Michael observes, as vocations decrease, the involvement of the laity has become and will continue to be crucial. He is aided at Marylebone by Fr Austin
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Garvey, a retired priest who lives in the presbytery, but Fr Michael does not see a return to a time when there were four priests living in Marylebone. Because of the busy nature of a central London parish, Fr Michael says it is hard to develop the usual social action groups present in many parishes in the Diocese. Couple that with the new faces coming and going every week at Mass from the hotels and you can understand why. The Legion of Mary, Knights of St Columba, Union of Catholic Mothers and SVP are all present in the parish but finding it hard to attract new members. In this sense, developing projects can be challenging work. But Fr Michael has developed an unexpected partnership with the
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local Caffè Nero. As he is out walking Finian twice a day at dawn and dusk, he passes the shop on Edgware Road. Noticing the amounts of food in the shop not allowed to be retained, Fr Michael enquired as to what is done with the leftover produce. ‘It’s thrown away’, came the response from the manager of the store. So Fr Michael asked if he could collect it at the end of the day and re-distribute it to the poor and needy. So every day, he and Finian collect the leftover food to give to the homeless in the area. Travel is also a great love for Fr Michael and this year will see him lead his 25th parish pilgrimage. In previous years, groups have visited all of the major shrine locations in Europe
and did go to Mexico one year to visit Guadeloupe. This year the group will visit Budapest and Prague to visit shrines there. There is a great warmth in Marylebone which I have encountered every time I have visited. And even if Fr Michael isn’t around, Finian will make sure you feel welcome in this cosmopolitan parish. Founded: 1855 Mass Times: (Sat 6pm), 8.30, 11 (Family), 6pm (Folk). Also open 7am-7pm for private prayer Address: 211 Old Marylebone Road, NW1 5QT Telephone: 020 7723 5101 Website: parish.rcdow.org.uk/ marylebone Page 9