Father Phil hopes to continue unity fight

SADNESS: Father Phil Sumner

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A PARISH priest renowned for his work to bring different faiths together following the Oldham riots hopes that he will remain after a massive shake-up of the regional diocese.

As the Chronicle reported yesterday, four Catholic churches in Oldham are among 22 which will close in Salford Diocese.

The Bishop of Salford, Rt Rev John Arnold, announced on Sunday that St Mary's in Oldham, Holy Rosary in Fitton Hill and Sacred Heart in Derker will shut.

Either St Anne's in Greenacres or St Michael's in Abbeyhills will also close following further consultation.

Amalgamations will see the number of parishes in the Deanery of Mount Carmel, (Oldham) drop from 12 to 8 and the number of parish priests from 11 to 8.

Father Phil Sumner, parish priest of St Mary's with St Patrick's, is well-known for his work to build inter-faith relationships following the 2001 riots.

He said: "There are so many sadnesses around this because St Mary's is the mother church in Oldham, it is the oldest of the Catholic churches. But numbers there have dwindled to about 60 people per week which by Catholic standards is a very low attendance.

Afford

"From a financial point of view, it is also very hard to keep it going on the amount of money coming in because it is such an old church which needs a lot of work. People there just can't afford to pay for that.

"The situation that also can't be avoided is the number of priests that will be available within the diocese cannot keep up with the number of church buildings. Some churches have to close.

"People that have invested and put so much of their lives into St Mary's over the years, have had ceremonies there, have been baptised there and have buried parents there, do have emotional links with the place. And because of the age of the church, there are many of them.

"But I think people knew the writing was on the wall. You can't avoid it when you are going there each week and there are so few people."

Father Sumner believes parishes will become a "community of communities", and explained: "Lay people will have much more responsibility for being a spiritual presence in that parish area, but it is also about feeling part of a bigger community.

"It works in many places around the world and I hope we can make it work here."

He said the bishop could move priests around but he hopes he could stay as parish priest, adding: "I was sent here to look at cohesion issues and I have developed some very good relationships with the Muslim and Hindu communities, and within the local authority infrastructure of building cohesion in the borough.

"It would take someone else coming in a lot of time to build up the knowledge and relationships. I'm not saying that it couldn't happen but it would seem to me that it is right that I am here in Oldham to continue the work I have been doing for some time."

The announcement followed consultation by the diocese which stressed that the closures would happen in the long-term.

Father Michael Fleming, parish priest of Holy Rosary and Holy Family, also hopes to remain and said: "It has been quite a long consultation process and people have been concentrating on this for quite some time.

"Obviously there are people that have been saddened by it but it is not going to be immediate, it is planning for the future of the whole of the diocese as well as the local deanery. Its not just about the upkeep of the churches, it's about the priests being able to service them."