'Last-ditch' meeting aims to save historical church
BBCA last-ditch meeting has been organised to try to save one of Lancashire's oldest churches.
St Joseph's Roman Catholic Church at Brindle, near Preston, has been run by Benedictine monks from Ampleforth Abbey in North Yorkshire since the 1700s.
Because of a declining number of priests, the abbey said it had handed the running of the parish to the Archdiocese of Liverpool, which in turn said that because it also did not have enough priests, the church would have to close at the end of January.
The Archbishop of Liverpool, the Most Reverend John Sherrington, said a consultation on proposals for services to be moved to St Bede's in Clayton Green was ongoing and open until 22 January.
Sherrington is due to take questions from parishioners at the church on 19 January.
Parishioner Bernadette Dixon told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I could feel hearts breaking in front of me - it was horrifying when the news was announced at church.
"We had such hope of saving our parish."
Catherine Kershaw, whose late sister is buried in the graveyard, has been a parishioner since she was a child.
She said: "The community will be lost, and where are people going to go to church after that?"
Previously, the secretary for the Ampleforth Abbey Trust, Liam Kelly, said parishioners had been told in 2011 that the parish priest would be the last one that the abbey could provide.
"The reality is personnel, manpower - the number of priests - is declining," he explained.
"We do not have people to staff, to manage these parishes.
"We need monks at Ampleforth Abbey."
Mark Ainsworth plays piano and organises music for masses at the church.
He said there had been little communication between Ampleforth Abbey, the Archdiocese of Liverpool and parishioners.
He said: "If the building is going to be maintained, why not let it be used for services?
"It seems better than letting it go to rack and ruin.
"The problem is, we could end up with no priests which means you don't need a church, and no church means you don't need a priest, so no solution is found."
Caroline Moffatt, 79, is also very upset by her church's planned closure.
She said: "I've been a parishioner for 58 years. I can't drive and there are no buses so I can't get to St Bede's at Clayton-le-Woods, which is the alternative church the archbishop says we should go to."
Sherrington said parishioners were being consulted on plans for the parish priest of St Bede's, Clayton Green, to assume the pastoral care of the people of St Joseph's, with all liturgical and sacramental celebrations to be conducted at St Bede's.
He said the decision of the Ampleforth community to withdraw from the parish was indicated as long ago as 2011, when it was made clear that Dom Raphael from the Order of Saint Benedict would be the last member of the community to serve there.
He said the archdiocese remained indebted to the monastic community at Ampleforth for its service and dedication.
"Any plans devised following the consultation need to be viable and sustainable for the future needs of the parish as part of the archdiocesan pastoral plan," he added.
The BBC has approached Ampleforth Abbey for comment.
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