Evening Prayer to mark the beginning of the Coventry and Nuneaton Deanery Visitation has taken place at Christ the King.

It was held on the memorial of St Vincent de Paul on Tuesday 27 September 2022.

A Deanery is a group of parishes which can cover a wide area. It enables the sharing of resources amongst parishes in those areas and a strengthening of fraternal support among the priests and people in those areas.

Evening Prayer was celebrated by Archbishop Bernard Longley, Canon Paul Fitzpatrick (Episcopal Vicar for Coventry, Oxfordshire and Warwickshire) and Canon Richard Walker (Vicar General).

Following Evening Prayer the Archbishop and Canon Paul spoke about the Visitation, its purpose and how it will work. Afterwards refreshments were provided in Christ the King Community Centre.

During Visitation visits each parish has the opportunity to offer a snapshot of the life of the Christian community in their locality.

The newly formed Coventry and Nuneaton Deanery is one of 11 deaneries in the Archdiocese of Birmingham. It consists of:

• 17 Parishes / 23 Churches.
• 22 primary schools, 4 secondary schools and 2 Universities.
• 3 Hospitals (Coventry, Nuneaton and Rugby).
• Most northerly church – St Benedict’s near Atherstone, most Southerly church – St Thomas more Coventry, 17.5miles between two churches.

The parishes/churches/clergy are as follows:
1. Our Lady of the Angels (Nuneaton) – Fr Simon Hall (parish priest), Deacon Michael Skidmore.
2. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart (Bulkington) and St Francis of Assisi (Bedworth) – Fr Michael Gamble, Fr Jinse Thomas.
3. St Anne (New Arley) & St Joseph (Nuneaton) – Fr George Waraich.
4. St Benedict (Atherstone) – Fr Paul Lomas.
5. St. Joseph’s (Monks Kirby) – Fr Matthew Pittam.
6. All Souls – Father Paul Burch, Fr Tim Boniwell, Deacon Paul Rabvukwa.
7. Christ the King & St Augustine’s – Fr Tom Farrell, Fr Benedict Skipper, Deacon Pat Flanagan, Deacon Gerry O’Reilly, Deacon Tony Janew, Deacon Joe Patterson, Deacon Keith Millage.
8. Corpus Christi with St Anne – Fr Stephen Stephen Fawcett.
9. Holy Family – Fr Pat Brennan, Fr Bernard Anwl (Retired).
10. Our Lady of the Assumption & St John Vianney – Rev Fr Sebastian Namattathi, Fr and Emmanuel Gili-Hammett (Retired) Deacon Rev Andy Lansberry.
11. Sacred Heart – Fr Tony Norton.
12. St John Fisher – Fr Des Devenney.
13. St Elizabeth – Fr Moses Pitya David. AJ.
14. Ss Mary & Benedict – Fr. Jimmy Lutwama, AJ.
15. St Osburg- Fr. Pontius AJ, Fr. Sunday AJ (UHCW Chaplain).
16. St Patrick – Fr George Bennett.
17. St Thomas More & St Joseph the Worker - Rev Fr Simon Baker, Rev Fr Peter Conley, Deacon Leo Poole, Deacon David Palmer.

The visits to each parish will begin in October and continue until July 2023 when there will be a closing Mass and meeting to share some of the findings of the visits.

Deanery website

Photo Gallery

Watch Evening Prayer

From Con McHugh