London: New shrine to Blessed John Henry Newman inaugurated

Blessed John Henry Newman

London now has a new shrine to Blessed John Henry Newman. Archbishop Peter Smith of Southwark blessed the shrine at the Church of the Most Precious Blood, London Bridge, on Trinity Sunday after celebrating a packed parish Mass.

The shrine stands on the left-hand side of the church, near the main sanctuary, as you walk up the main aisle. It stands opposite the Lady Chapel. For some months now, the Church of the Most Precious Blood has been in the care of the Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham. Newman is one of the patrons of the Ordinariate and the other, of course, is Our Lady of Walsingham. Thus the church will have a shrine to each of its patrons on either side of the main altar area.

Concelebrating the Mass with Archbishop Peter were the parish priest, Fr Christopher Pearson, and fellow Ordinariate priest Fr Peter Andrews. The Archbishop preached – noting that these were sad times for Britain and for South London following the Woolwich murder of a young soldier, and that faith and love of God and neighbour must be at the core of all our lives. He noted the pressures on the Church from established secularism, and urged all to a deeper prayer-life and a stronger understanding of the Christian faith, following the example of Newman.

The blessing of the new shrine – which features a portrait of Newman, a copy of the famous Millais portrait in the National Portrait Gallery – came as the climax to a week of Newman celebrations. These included a lecture on Newman’s life and work by Dr Andrew Nash, and a special display telling the story of Newman’s life from his birth in London through his time in Oxford, Rome, and Birmingham, presented by the Communion and Liberation group from Oxford.