The
Durham Times reports on an
online petition concerning the future of Ushaw College which reads as follows:
To The Most Rev Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, and the trustees of Ushaw College.
We, the undersigned, are concerned by the news that Ushaw College, including the seminary of St Cuthbert, is to close in June 2011, and that the ancillary activities, including the successful conference and tourism businesses, are to close at the earlier date of 31st December 2010. In expressing this concern, we are mindful that the extensive buildings, including the architecturally meritorious chapel dedicated to St Cuthbert, were paid for by earlier generations of Catholics, who, no doubt, expected their generosity to extend to future generations in perpetuity. We are also mindful of the immense contribution that Ushaw College has made in the past 200 years to the cultural, educational and religious history of the north of England, particularly as the alma mater of many thousands of Catholic priests.
In particular, we are concerned by the following:-
1. The absence of any consultation or discussion prior to the decision being made,
2. The prospect of St Cuthbert’s Chapel no longer being available for Catholic worship,
3. The apparent lack of consideration given to ways of securing a future for the college,
4. The loss of more than 60 jobs in an area where alternative employment is scarce.
In the light of these considerations, we urge that the trustees of Ushaw College forestall its closure until such time as:-
1. a proper study has been made of options that would enable it to continue to serve the Catholic population of northern England,
2. there has been the opportunity for the closure to be debated publicly.
If you wish, you can
sign the petition here.
6 comments:
I've signed with my full name. Somehow I don't expect that my comment will be read but, if it is, it certainly will not sit well with the disposers.
AchBp Kelly has "form" in this regard. He closed UpHolland College in 1999 without any consultation, when it was profitable as a conference facility, and the art, statues, sacred vessels, vestments, and other artifacts (including the Gradwell library collection) that had been donated by parishes all over the diocese in the preceding 120 years of the college's life as a semenary and school were sold off rather than returned to their donors. The building was sold to a developer who has let it fall into virtual ruin.
Don't be surprised if Ushaw's collections are sold at auction, the building sold at a knock-down price to a developer, and it too falls into ruin.
@ Father Finigan
Signed Roy Hobson FRICS 1984, Grad Dipl QS aka "Vesper"
I am also concerned that this wonderful site will end up in the hands of commercial developers, who will ride roughshod over the charitable wishes of past generations, who believed that they were donating land, buildings etc to a Catholic development in perpetuity.
Our Lady of the Rosary pray for us!
PAPA RATZI ( http://www.thepapalvisit.org ) ORA PRO NOBIS!
I would like to sign the petition but do not want to engage in an online transaction of $$$.
Might not laymen raise money to purchase Ushaw and then donate it to recently arrived, and arriving, members of the Ordinariate to serve, with episcopal approval and papal encouragement, as a seminary and their visible and worthy home? A proposal not without ironies, which some might resist, but why? The appropriate bishops might also consider donating it to such an end. What would Saint Peter and Paul have done?
Today's Newcastle Journal states that the trustees of Ushaw College will be considering the online petition calling for the closure of the college to be forestalled until there has been proper consultation and alternative uses of the college have been considered.
If this is correct, it is good news indeed, and a successful outcome to the first stage of the campaign. However, the northern bishops still have to be convinced that there is a viable future for Ushaw as a Catholic institution. So please sign the petition if you have not already done so.
Post a Comment