Our Changing Parish Community
Up to the beginning of the war, the majority of the parishioners were Irish immigrants or of Irish extraction, but during the war the composition of the congregation began to change, with some newcomers from various parts of the world. After the war there was an influx of new faces with new accents. First came worshippers from the Caribbean, who had been invited to work here by the Government. They were followed by Vietnamese refugees from the Vietnam war, Filipinos, Africans (very often students coming here for higher education), and worshippers from many European countries and more recently from South America. In all, there are now representatives of more than 45 nations in our congregation. The Irish presence is, however, still very strong and our Irish parishioners continue to make valuable contribution to every aspect of parish life, as they have done from the very beginning.
In recent years we have also had priests from other parts of the world and at present we have a Vietnamese priest, Father John Hai Pham, assisting the parish priest, Father Christopher Colven, who is English. Interestingly, Father Christopher, like Father Lockhart, was formerly a priest in the Church of England. He joined the Catholic Church in what might be called the second exodus from the Church of England to the Roman Catholic Church, which occurred in the 1990s. Also in residence, and still making a valuable contribution to the sacramental life of the church at the age of 80, is Father Patrick Heekin, who is Irish.
The church in Kingsland is truly Catholic – it is to a very large extent a reflection of the universal church, which is multi-national and multi cultural.
A New Church pt II / Our Church Today
Back to Contents