CAFOD Mass at Harvington Hall on Feast of St Maximillian Kolbe

John Thornhill at Harvington Hall

CAFOD invited supporters and friends to a celebration of Mass at Harvington Hall on the Feast of St Maximillian Kolbe. Paschal Somers and John Thornhill from the Community of the Passion attended, representing the Congregation of the Passion of Jesus Christ in England.

Harvington Hall is a magnificent Tudor hall renowned for its many priests' hiding places. These secret spaces became a refuge for Catholic priests during the intermittent persecutions of the Tudor and Stuart reigns. They tell an intimate story of fear, faith and perseverance.

In 1923, Ellen Ryan Ferris purchased Harvington Hall and then gave it to the Archdiocese of Birmingham. The Archdiocese still owns the hall today which is open to the public and has become a place of pilgrimage and reflection.

Mass was celebrated in what was once the secret chapel, high in the eaves of the house. The relics of the martyrs Edmund Campion and John Wall were on display for veneration. The celebrants were Abbot Brendan Thomas from the Benedictine Community at Belmont, and Fr Simon McGurk.

During his address, Fr Simon spoke of the importance of witnessing to truth on the Feast of St Maximillian Kolbe. In the early church, the word 'martyr' simply meant 'witness'. Christians of all ages have been called to witness to their beliefs and this has sometimes meant persecution, great hardship and death. This was the fate of men and women like Edmund Campion who had been greatly esteemed by Queen Elizabeth I, and John Wall, a popular and beloved local figure who was nevertheless the last Catholic priest to be martyred in England. It was also the fate of women like Margaret Clitheroe from York and the women who ran great households and took extraordinary risks hiding priests. In more recent times, this was the fate of Maximillian Kolbe who died in Auschwitz resisting the evils of the Nazi regime. Fr Simon reminded guests that we are called as Christians to witness to truth and to speak out against the many injustices which best our world today.