During the week our new Parish Priest arrived. Fr Manny (short for Emmanuel) Gribben, who will live at St Mary’s, will take on responsibility for leading the Catholic community across Barrow. Fr Manny is no stranger to the town – he spent much of his childhood living just opposite Sacred Heart church – so no doubt he will soon feel at home.

 Fr Manny will be assisted by two other priests, who are already known to us. Fr Francis Olesene, who lives in the presbytery at St Pius X church on Ormsgill, and Fr Andrew Allman, who lives at St Columba’s presbytery on Walney. All three priests will serve all the churches in the town, and we hope to spread our time and talents as fairly as possible! The team of priests who will serve Barrow for the foreseeable future is now complete.

 The last few months have been a time of great upheaval for the Catholic community in Barrow, not least at Sacred Heart and St Columba, following the sad loss of Fr Bernard in May. Thank you for your patience during this time of great uncertainty and change. Hopefully in the weeks ahead, with a stable team of clergy in place, things will begin to settle and we can begin to work at building a stronger Catholic community across the whole town.