New priests for Southwark - St John Fisher pray for us


The Day With Mary in my parish coincided with the priestly Ordination of Fr Mark Higgins and Fr Matt O'Gorman at St George's Cathedral in Southwark. I had to give the parish priority and so was disappointed to miss the ordination, especially since I have known both of these new priests well since some time before they began their formation. I am delighted that they are now part of the brotherhood of the clergy in the Archdiocese of Southwark.

In fact, both of them, as well as Fr James Cadman who was ordained a few weeks ago, are old boys of The John Fisher School in Purley. I am a very-much-older boy of the same school. In my day, Fr Roger Nesbitt started up and ran the Faith Society from which the Faith Movement was formed. Although not all of the many priestly vocations from the school since that time were directly influenced by Faith, many of them were.

When the then Archbishop moved Fr Nesbitt into parish ministry in the mid 1980s (just before my own ordination) it seemed as though perhaps the Faith Society would gradually wind down. Thanks to Sir Dan of the Blogosphere, it has continued for another 30 years - and has continued to foster vocations.

The school is called "The John Fisher School" because it was founded shortly before the canonisation in 1935. Sir Dan does a great job of instructing the boys in the virtues of their patron saint. both he and I are enthusiasts of the school hymn which summarises those virtues admirably. May his prayers assist these fine new priests in their apostolate.


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