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'{{multiple issues| {{refimprove|date=December 2015}} {{original research|date=December 2015}} {{tone|date=December 2015}} {{copy edit|date=December 2015}} }} {{Infobox diocese | jurisdiction = Archdiocese | name = Southwark | latin = Archidioecesis Southvarcensis | local = <!-- Name in the native language --> | image = Coat_of_Arms_of_the_Archdiocese_of_Southwark.jpg | image_size = frameless | image_alt = | caption = Coat of arms of the Archdiocese of Southwark | country = [[England]] | territory = The London boroughs south of the Thames, the county of Kent and the Medway Unitary Authority | province = [[Province of Southwark|Southwark]] | metropolitan = Southwark | archdeaconries = | deaneries = 20 | subdivisions = | coordinates = <!-- Use {{coord}} --> | area_km2 = 3,000 <!-- Area in square kilometers, automatically converted --> | area_sqmi = <!-- Area in square miles, automatically converted --> | population = 4,444,065 | population_as_of = 2010 | catholics = 383,265 | catholics_percent = 8.6 | parishes = 181 <!-- Number of parishes in the diocese --> | churches = <!-- Number of churches in the diocese --> | congregations = <!-- Number of congregations in the diocese --> | schools = <!-- Number of church supported schools in the diocese --> | members = <!-- Number of members in the diocese --> | denomination = [[Roman Catholic]] | rite = [[Latin Rite]] | established = 29 September 1850 | cathedral = [[St George's Cathedral, Southwark]] | cocathedral = | patron = <!-- Patron saint(s) of the diocese (or archdiocese) --> | patron_title = <!-- Use to override the default label "Patron saint" --> | priests = 274 | pope = {{Incumbent pope}} <!-- DO NOT CHANGE. This will update the Popes Automatically as they change --> | patriarch = | major_archbishop = | bishop = | bishop_title = Archbishop | metro_archbishop = [[Peter Smith (archbishop)|Peter Smith]] | coadjutor = | suffragans = <!-- List most senior first (usually reckoned by date of consecration); use | suffragan = for one--> | auxiliary_bishops = {{unbulleted list|[[Paul Hendricks]]|[[Patrick Kevin Lynch]]}} | archdeacons = <!-- List most senior first (usually reckoned by date of first collation); use | archdeacon = for one--> | emeritus_bishops = {{unbulleted list|[[Michael George Bowen]]|[[Kevin John Patrick McDonald]]|Howard George Tripp|[[John Franklin Meldon Hine|John Hine]]}} | map = Province of Southwark.png | map_alt = | map_caption = Dioceses of the [[Province of Southwark]]. The Archdiocese of Southwark is the easternmost | website = [http://www.rcsouthwark.co.uk/ rcsouthwark.co.uk]}} [[Image:St georges roman catholic cathedral southwark.jpg|thumb|278px|St George's, Southwark]] The '''Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark''' (''Br'' [ˈsʌðɨk])<ref>"Southwark", in ''The Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World'' (1952), New York: Columbia University Press.</ref> is a [[Latin Church]] [[Roman Catholic]] [[archdiocese]] in England. The archepiscopal see is headed by the [[Archbishop of Southwark]]. The archdiocese is part of the [[Ecclesiastical province|Metropolitan Province]] of [[Province of Southwark|Southwark]], which covers the [[South of England]]. The cathedral church is [[St George's Cathedral, Southwark]]. ==Location== The archdiocese covers the [[London borough]]s south of the [[Thames]], the county of [[Kent]] and the [[Medway|Medway Unitary Authority]]. ==Boundaries== The diocese is divided into three pastoral areas and 20 deaneries, each of which contain a number of parishes: '''Kent Pastoral Area''': 50 parishes *[[Canterbury]] (7): Ashford; Ashford South; Canterbury; Faversham; Herne Bay; Hersden; Whitstable. *[[Chatham, Kent|Chatham]] (9): Chatham; Gillingham; Parkwood and Wigmore; Rainham; Rochester; Sheppey; Sittingbourne; Strood; Walderslade. *[[Dover]] (8): Aylesham; Buckland; Deal; Dover; Folkestone; Folkestone West; Hythe; Mongeham. *[[Gravesend, Kent|Gravesend]] (7): Dartford; Dartford-St Vincent's; Gravesend; Hartley; Meopham; Northfleet; Swanley. *[[Maidstone]] (7): Bearsted and Harrietsham; Cranbrook; Goudhurst; Maidstone; Maidstone South; Tenterden; West Malling. *[[Thanet]] (4): Birchington and Westgate; Margate and Cliftonville; Broadstairs; [[St Augustine's Abbey, Ramsgate|Ramsgate and Minster]]. *[[Tunbridge Wells]] (8): Edenbridge; Paddock Wood; Pembury; Sevenoaks; Southborough; Tonbridge; Tunbridge Wells; Westerham. '''South East Pastoral Area''': 66 parishes *[[Bexley]] (9): Bexley; Bexleyheath; Blackfen; Bostall Park; Crayford; Erith; Sidcup; Thamesmead South; Welling. *[[Bromley]] (13): Anerley; Beckenham; Biggin Hill; Bromley; Bromley Common; Chislehurst; Chislehurst West; Farnborough; Hayes; Orpington; Petts Wood; St Mary and St Paul's Cray; West Wickham. *[[Camberwell]] (6): Camberwell; Dulwich; Dulwich Wood Park; Nunhead; Peckham; Peckham Rye. *[[Greenwich]] (15): Abbey Wood-St Benet's; Abbey Wood-St David's; Blackheath; Charlton; Eltham; Eltham Well Hall; Greenwich; Greenwich East; Kidbrooke; Mottingham; Plumstead; Plumstead Common; Shooters Hill; Thamesmead Central; Woolwich. *[[Lambeth]] (13): [[Corpus Christi Church, Brixton|Brixton]]; Brixton Hill; Clapham; Clapham Park; Italian Mission; Norbury; Norwood West; Herne Hill; Stockwell; Streatham; Streatham Hill; Vauxhall; Waterloo. *[[Lewisham]] (10): Beckenham Hill; Brockley; Catford; Deptford; Downham; Forest Hill; Lee; Lewisham; Sydenham; Sydenham Kirkdale. '''South West Pastoral Area''': 64 parishes *[[Balham]] (9): Balham; Battersea Park; Battersea West; Clapham Common; Earlsfield; Tooting; Tooting Bec; Wandsworth; Wandsworth East Hill. *[[Cathedral]] (9): Cathedral; Bermondsey-Dockhead; Bermondsey-Melior Street; Bermondsey South; Borough; Kennington Park; Rotherhithe; Surrey Docks; Walworth. *[[Croydon]] (13): Addiscombe; Coulsdon; Croydon South; Croydon West; New Addington; Norwood South; Norwood Upper; Old Coulsdon; Purley; Sanderstead; Selsdon; Thornton Heath; Waddon. *[[Kingston, Kent|Kingston]] (7): Chessington; Kingston; Kingston Hill; New Malden; Norbiton; Surbiton; Tolworth. *[[London Borough of Merton|Merton]] (9): Colliers Wood; Merton; Mitcham; Morden; Pollards Hill; Tooting (Links Road); [[Sacred Heart Church (Wimbledon)|Wimbledon]]; [[Christ the King Church, Wimbledon Park|Wimbledon Park]]; Wimbledon South. *[[Mortlake]] (9): Barnes; East Sheen; Ham; Kew Gardens; Mortlake; Putney; Richmond; [[St. Joseph Church, Roehampton|Roehampton]]; Wimbledon Common. *[[Sutton, Kent|Sutton]] (8): Carshalton; Carshalton Beeches; Cheam; North Cheam; Sutton; Sutton Green; Wallington; Worcester Park. ==History== {{expand section|date=July 2008}} Southwark was one of the dioceses established at the restoration of Catholic hierarchical structures in 1851 by [[Pope Pius IX]]. The areas which now comprise the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth|Diocese of Portsmouth]] and the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Arundel and Brighton|Diocese of Arundel and Brighton]] subsequently separated. ==Original cathedral== The [[Papists Act 1778|Papists Act]] of 1778 brought a certain limited freedom to those of the faith. Priests no longer moved in fear of imprisonment. Roman Catholics could run their own schools and could once more acquire property. In protest against the act, [[Lord George Gordon]], on 2 June 1780, gathered a large crowd in [[St George's Fields]] to march on [[Westminster]]. Refused a hearing, they became violent and so began a [[Gordon Riots|week of burning, plundering]] and killing in which many Roman Catholic chapels and houses were destroyed. There is a legend that the high altar of the cathedral stands on the spot where the march began. In 1786 there was only one Roman Catholic chapel in the whole of south London, located at [[Bermondsey]]. It was then that the Reverend Thomas Walsh, a [[Douai]] priest, for £20 a year hired a room in Bandyleg Walk (near where the Southwark fire station now stands). Within two years, the numbers attending the little chapel had increased so rapidly that a new building became essential. In 1793 a large chapel dedicated to [[St George]] was opened in the London Road at a cost of £2,000. It was designed by James Taylor of [[Weybridge]], [[Surrey]]. According to tradition it was here that the first [[Solemn Mass|High Mass]] was celebrated in London, outside the chapels of ambassadors, since the time of [[King James II of England]]. The occasion was the Solemn Requiem sung for the repose of the soul of [[Louis XVI of France]], who was executed on 21 January 1793. It was to St George's that the Reverend Thomas Doyle came in 1820, when the congregation stood at around 7,000. He became the first chaplain in 1829. In the same year, the [[Catholic Emancipation Act]] removed nearly all the legal disabilities which Catholics had suffered for 250 years. As Doyle's congregation increased to 15,000 by 1829, the idea grew in his mind of a great church with the dimensions of a long and lofty cathedral. By 1839 enough money had been collected to make a start and the present site in St George's Fields (then an open space) was purchased for £3,200. [[Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin|Augustus Pugin]], the noted architect of the [[Gothic Revival]], was commissioned to design the church. Lack of funds, however, prevented the committee from accepting his first design of a cruciform cathedral on a grand scale and less ambitious plans had to be prepared. Work began on the old cathedral in 1840, the foundation stone being laid on 8 September. The church was solemnly opened by Bishop [[Nicholas Wiseman]] (later Cardinal Wiseman) on 4 July 1848. To mark the occasion [[Pope Pius IX]] sent a golden chalice and paten as a gift. Two years later Pope Pius restored the English Roman Catholic hierarchy and St George's was chosen as the cathedral church of the new Roman Catholic Diocese of Southwark, which was to cover the whole of southern England. For the next half-century, until the opening of [[Westminster Cathedral]], St George's was the centre of Roman Catholic life in London. [[Thomas Grant (bishop)|Thomas Grant]] was made the first Roman Catholic Bishop of Southwark; Doyle became the [[Provost (religion)|provost]] and administrator and remained so until his death on 6 June 1879. He is buried in the crypt. The new cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Butt on 7 November 1894 and on that day every year the feast of the dedication of the cathedral is celebrated throughout the diocese. ==Archbishop== As of 10 June 2010, the current archbishop is [[Peter Smith (archbishop)|Peter Smith]]. His predecessor, [[Kevin McDonald (archbishop)|Kevin McDonald]], led the archdiocese until 4 December 2009, when he submitted his resignation in keeping with canon law which provides for the retirement of a diocesan bishop on grounds of ill health or for other grave reasons. There are three auxiliary bishops: [[John Hine]], titular Bishop of [[Diocese of Beverley|Beverley]], [[Patrick Lynch (Roman Catholic Bishop)|Patrick Lynch]] [[Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary|SS.CC.]], [[titular bishop of Castrum]] and [[Paul Hendricks]], titular Bishop of [[Diocese of Ross (Scotland)|Ross and Cromarty]]. These bishops have particular pastoral responsibility in Kent, South East London and South West London respectively.{{Citation needed|date=October 2012}} ==Pilgrimage== The Southwark archdiocese makes up part of the [[Catholic Association Pilgrimage]]. ==Education== {{Expand section|date=July 2009}} The archdiocese is the foundation responsible for over 170 Voluntary Aided and Voluntary Controlled schools in the diocese and is the sponsor of two schools under the English [[Academy (English school)|academy]] programme. == St Joseph's Convent and school, Sidcup == St Joseph's Convent in [[Sidcup]] was a mixed infant and junior school from 1901 to 1989. For a few decades it also taught girls in [[secondary education]]. The school was located on Hatherley Road, Sidcup, Kent, in the London Borough of Bexley. The school underwent a number of name changes since its inception. Officially called St Joseph's, the plaque on the convent building was originally "English and French School". The diversification into two schools introduced a second school name. For the final 40 years of the school's existence the name plaque at the apex read "St Joseph's Convent and School". === Documentary === The actor-director Stephen Armourae, who was a pupil from 1975 to 1981, has recorded an interview with a former pupil and is in preproduction for filming a documentary on the Convent.{{cn|date=December 2015}} ===Early years=== {{unsourced section|date=December 2015}} The school was founded by three French nuns who were members of an order in Normandy France. It was commonly believed they were members of the Soeurs-De-L-Education-Chretienne,<ref>http://www.orne.catholique.fr/-SOEURS-DE-L-EDUCATION-CHRETIENNE-.html#actu</ref> in English known as Religious of Christian Education, since their mother house was in the Briouze prefecture of Normandy. However, Stephen Armourae{{who|date=December 2015}} believes the order was the "Sisters of the Immaculate Conception" and originally called "Loreto Ladies,{{cn|date=December 2015}} a branch of the Institute of the Holy Family founded in 1820 by the Abbé Pierre Bonaventure Noailles, Canon of Bordeaux. They arrived in 1901 during a period of anti-clerical legislation in France. The order had been opening overseas convents since the 1880s in response to the Third Republic's anti-clerical legislation. Sister Marie-Claire, who was aged 17 (born 1884) when she arrived in Sidcup, was the sister superior of the convent. Accompanying her were Rosalie Noel (born 1883) and Anna Benchard (born 1882).{{cn|date=December 2015}} The name "St Joseph's Convent" was chosen as the saint sacred to the order, as the orphanage division of the Loreto Ladies is named "Sisters of St Joseph". A third branch is the Sisters of Hope, who are nurses. The order was founded during the restoration of the Bourbon dynasty and the rule of the [[Ultra-royalist|Ultras]] in [[France]]. They had seized power shortly after [[Napoleon]]'s defeat at the [[Battle of Waterloo]]. A number of nunnery orders were founded to educate girls to uphold Catholicism and the [[Ancien Régime]], and to oppose the radicalism of the French Revolution and especially the women of the [[French Revolution]]. ===Founding of the convent=== With the help of the mission priest at Chislehurst, the Sisters of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception of Briouze opened a convent in Sidcup in 1901. On 2 October 1902 they opened a convent school on Hatherley Road. The convent was instituted in response to the rise of Catholic residents who had relocated from the poorer parishes of New Cross and Camberwell. They provided free education to the children of these low income families. A stable was converted into a chapel, where the first Mass was said on the feast of St Lawrence of Canterbury on 2 February 1902. === Name changes === It is believed that St Joseph's began admitting boys in 1902 and in its first year was exclusively girls.{{cn|date=December 2015}} The school was known as both "St Joseph's" and "English and French School". In the 1920s the English and French School name was replaced by "St Joseph's" for the boys' school and "St Gertrude's" for the girls' section (after [[Gertrude the Great]]). Later St Gertrude's became "St Gertrude's High School" when the schools were reorganised into St Joseph's for primary education and St Gertrude's for girls' secondary education. Around 1965 the two schools were amalgamated under the name of St Joseph's as a mixed primary school. [[File:St josephs1905.jpg|thumb|St Joseph's class with a male teacher]] St Gertrude's added St Gertrude's High School for Girls due to a rising demand of for school places as a consequence of the increase in size of population of Sidcup. Sidcup was rural town, but this began to change following the opening of the Sidcup railway station as part of the Dartford Loop Line. The first major influx was from the slum areas of New Cross, this included an increase in Roman Catholic people which encouraged the building of St Lawrence's Church to meet the growing population spiritual needs. This led to a surge in pupil numbers at St Joseph's. [[File:St gertrudes st josephs.jpg|thumb|The senior girls block when St Joseph's was called St Gertrude's]] [[File:St gertrudes St Jospehs School.JPG|thumb|Classroom at St Joseph's]] Following the electrification of the rail line between London Bridge Railway Station and Dartford, property speculators purchased farmland in Sidcup and built more expensive properties attracting middle class residents. The new populace having more disposable income were able to enroll their children in fee paying schools. To meet this demand, the nuns opened a fee paying secondary school, St Gertrude's High School for Girls for this demand. ===Connection with St Lawrence's Church=== The nuns and the pupils used the local Roman Catholic church of St Lawrence named in remembrance of Lawrence of Rome for Masses and religious observations. From 1901-1911 this church was under the auspices of the Verona Fathers. Due to an ambitious building scheme, they were forced to relinquish the church due to debts. The church then passed to the Marist Fathers who continued the fraternal link with the convent and installed a relic of their patron St Peter Chanel. The relic kept in a small display box near the altar was given to the Marist Fathers as part of the Marist collection that was brought first to France following missionary reassignment. The relic contained a pressed red flower from the South Sea Islands, red representing martyrdom in Catholicism. The accompanying inscription stated that Chanel had been killed by, a warrior who had been injured trying to stop King Niuliki son Meitala from being baptised. King Niuliki incited Peter Chanel's murder, due to jealousy of Christianity.<ref>http://www.maristsm.org/</ref><ref>http://stlawrenceschurch.org.uk/history</ref> Tuesday mornings was the regular day for pupils to attend Mass at St Lawrence's. This would consist of the entire school, with the exception of the kindergarten, walking through Sidcup High Street to reach the church. ===End of the convent=== Sister Marie-Claire who was the founding nun and superior in 1901. Eventually she died in her sleep on her 95th birthday on 17 October 1979. She was succeeded by one of the cooks. The school closed in July 1989. The local newspaper, ''The News Shopper'', ran an article in March 1989 detailing a public meeting when it was announced the school would be closed due to the bishop in France being unable to provide a sufficient number of nuns to replace the ageing nuns at the convent. The Bishop of Normandy's decision to recall the nuns was due to lack of replacement novices willing to teach in England, the age of the resident nuns and the growing debts due to the nuns refusing to raise their school fees in order to maintain the ethos of providing education available to lower incomes. Following the demolishing of numbers 2 to 8 of Hatherley Road a new building was constructed, the Sidcup Nursing and Residential Centre. The centre has been a place of controversial following the discovery of a dead resident with a pillow over her face in 2012.<ref>[http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/10972608.82_year_old_Welling_woman_discovered_dead_in_Sidcup_care_home_with_pillow_on_her_face/ ''The News Shopper'' website.]</ref> The order continues to be involved with a school in south west England. Sister Anne is the only member of her convent who teaches at their St Joseph's Convent. ===Nuns at the convent since 1970=== All the teachers who had taken religious vows were members of the Sisters of the Immaculate Conception also known as Ladies of Loreto. * Sister Antionette - returned to France when the convent closed at the age of 93. She taught the kindergarten, maths and needlework. * Sister Blanche - retired to France in 1974 * Sister Denise - returned to France when the convent closed. Taught French, Spanish and science * Sister Emmanuel - former headmistress. She taught the kindergarten until 1977. She retired to France as a result of arthritis. Sister Marie-Claire - one of the founders. She taught different subjects including typing at the girls' secondary school of St Gertrude's. Her administrative duties were reduced when she was 90 and in declining health by which time she required two walking sticks. Died 1979 aged 95. Her name was pronounced with an emphasis on the first syllable in Marie. She would take non-Catholic pupils. This occurred particularly on the closure of Halfway Street school on the outbreak of World War II when there was an influx of non-Catholic and some Jewish pupils. Sister Theresa - unlike the other nuns she was English. She became headmistress after Sister Emanuel. She taught the final year boys. Her specialisation was mathematics. She managed the school trips. She died in September 1980. There were two nuns who were cooks for the school. They did not teach due to their strong French accents. One of them became sister superior on the death of Marie-Claire. '''Other nuns known to be at the convent''' * Sister Renee - she was at the convent at an early date and taught for decades. * Sister Eileen and Sister Moiren were teaching in the 1940s-1950s ===Lay teachers=== Many lay teachers taught at the school. A photograph from 1917 shows a male teacher. For the final 30 years of the school, all teachers were women.{{cn|date=December 2015}} ===Alumni=== The poet [[Fleur Adcock]] and her younger sister Marilyn were pupils at the convent and attended during the existence of St Gertrude's. Fleur Adcock refers to the school in her collection of poems ''The Incident Book'' (1986). Two of her poems describe the school: "St Gertrude's Sidcup" and "Halfway Street Sidcup".<ref>http://www.worldcat.org/title/incident-book/oclc/320328039</ref><ref>http://www.poetryarchive.org/poet/fleur-adcock</ref> The actress [[Jean Kent]], who appeared in a number of films from the 1940s to the end of 1950s, was a pupil.{{cn|date=December 2015}} Another was the singer [[Anne Shelton (singer)|Anne Shelton]].{{cn|date=December 2015}} [[File:Jean Kent - publicity.JPG|thumb|Jean Kent]] ===Uniform=== [[File:School cap.jpg|thumb|School cap]] The nuns of the order have always worn blue as part of their religious habit. This caused the formal nickname ''{{Lang|fr|Le souers de la Coeur bleu}}. Consequently, the school colours for the uniforms at St Joseph's were predominantly blue. According to early photographs the first girls' uniforms was a light blue smock with a broad rimmed hat. From the 1950s onwards the school uniform colours were blue and yellow. School blazers for boys were navy blue with the initials S and J overlapping on a badge background. This design was repeated on the school caps and ties. A light grey shirt and darker grey shorts. Girls had a darker blue blazer. Their hats were modelled on a combination of a Renaissance beret and a military cap. On the front it bore an enamel badge stylised in a coat of arms quadrant. In the summer term girls were allowed to wear a straw hat styled similar to a bowler hat with an enamel badge with the S.J. overlapping letters in yellow on a navy blue background. ===Discipline=== {{unsourced section|date=December 2015}} The school retained [[corporal punishment]] by [[caning]] until 1982. One punishment was to order pupils to pray before a large statue of Jesus that was situated on a mound in the playground. If this position was already occupied, the disobedient child had to pray before a statue of the Virgin Mary situated 15 yards away. This punishment was only applicable to boys as the statues were located in the boys' playground. ===St Lawrence's=== [[File:St Lawrences.jpg|thumb|St Lawrence's where St Joseph's worshipped 1901–1989 and founder of St Mary's Grammar & St. Peter Chanel School]] The church administers to the pastoral religious requirements of the schools in its parish: St Joseph's Convent, St Mary's Grammar and St Peter Chanel School. The latter two were founded by and had teachers from St Lawrence's. [[File:St Lawrences Church Sidcup.jpg|thumb|St Lawrence's and the college]] The church was built by the Diocese of Southwark to meet the religious worship of the growing Catholic population. The church was place under the care of the Verona Fathers. Building commenced in 1900.[[File:St Lawrence's Church Sidcup Jesus,Mary,font and Eucharist bell.jpg|thumb|Church connected to St Joseph's Convent,[[Sidcup]],[[Kent]]]] As was common in the Late Victorian era the Gothic Revival architecture had fallen out of fashion due to its ubiquity and ornateness. Instead brick buildings had become popular due to their ease of construction and uncluttered design. The arched central ceiling of the church was a sky blue colour in accordance to the Catholic theological practice of representing Heaven St Lawrence's is in the style of neo [[Romanesque architecture]] or [[Romanesque Revival]] architecture. Constructed of brick it features the arches typical of Romanesque architecture on a smaller scale. A mosaic design for the name is above the entrance. In the courtyard is a full size metal statue of Christ in a blessing pose standing upon a plinth. St Lawrence's Church was founded after St Joseph's Convent had started education. In 1903 the diocese purchased with the help of Miss Roberts a plot on Main Road. In August the mission was entrusted to the [[Verona Fathers]], also known as Sons of the Sacred Heart. 1904 houses 1 and 3 Hamilton Road were acquired. Building occurred between 1904 and 1906; the commission was given to architect Edward Goldie (1856–1921), son of the architect George Goldie. Conscrtuction used stock brick, laid in English bond, with stone dressings and a tiled pitched roof. The plan is cruciform, approaching a Greek cross with slightly shorter transept arms. The crossing roof has four gables in the main directions. St Lawrence's opened when Bishop Amigo consecrated the church on 15 August 1906. Only the main body of the church was completed. The aisles and sacristy were added after 1906. The eastern arm was bricked off and used as the sacristy. 109 Main Road, which was next to the church was built as a school for vocations to the African missions. The ambitious scale of the construction resulted in the Verona Fathers being unable to fund the projects. They were forced to relinquish the church in 1911 with debts of £6000. The equivalent of over £483,000 in 2015. The Marists took control of the church and parish in 1911 from the Verona Fathers. The parochial house became St Ethelbert's Marist College under Father Dr. John Mulkern who was the first rector or parish priest to take over from the Verona Fathers, it was opened in 1911. The side aisles and the sacristy were completed in 1930 by Messrs Frederick Smith of London, and once again Bishop Amigo reopened St Lawrence's on 27 April 1930.The organ was installed in 1940, followed by the pulpit and altar rails in 1942. Side altars were installed, dedicated to Our Lady and the Sacred Heart. A high altar was intended for installation next in 1943, but the [[Second World War]] prevented imports from [[Italy]]. Instead a Mr. Palla designed the altar in [[England]]. Plans for the high altar dated back to 1930 as presented in plans showing an alternative design of a simpler altar under a large [[baldacchino]]. The uppermost west window had a stained glass depiction of Christ with the Blessed Sacrament and the inscription ‘Charity’ added. The west arm with kingpost roof has windows depicting St Patrick and [[St. Gertrude|St Gertrude]]. St Gertrude was chosen to honour the nuns of St Joseph's secondary school St Gertrude's, which was absorbed back into St Joseph's soon after. With the additional changes to the church, it was consecrated on 6 June 1956 by Bishop Cowderoy. The three revisions since then of the [[sanctuary]] has resulted in the loss of the east wall paintings with geometric patterns, the inscription ''Et verbum caro factum est'' and a [[mandorla]] behind the crucifix. The timber pulpit removed 1970 was octagonal, set against the northeast crossing pier. The high altar had marble colonnettes flanking the frontal, a horizontal panel with a blind arcade behind the tabernacle, above which stood a tall canopied monstrance throne. Four marble columns, two freestanding colums and part of the arcaded panel were reused for the Lady altar at [[Blackfen]]. The building work was undertaken by Walters & Kerr Bate. [[File:St Lawrence's interior and Jesus the church of St Joseph's Convent Sidcup.jpg|thumb|Jesus statue, organ loft and aisle of St Lawrence's Church]] In the 1990s a priest who had lived at St Ethelbert's returned as parish priest. Father Robin Duckworth was assistant professor of Biblical Languages at [[Heythrop College]] in the 1960s.His successor died in 2012. In June 2012 the [[Marist Fathers]] faced the same decision as the nuns had in 1989. On Friday, 22 June 2012, Archbishop Peter Smith presided at a Mass of Thanksgiving for the ministry of the Marist Community, who have served the parish for 101 years. He was joined by Bishop Tom Burns of Menevia, himself a Marist who taught at St Mary's Grammar school in Sidcup, Bishop Paul and Monsignor Matthew Dickens. It was decided that the [[Marists]] would relinquish the parish in August 2012. In October Father John Diver was appointed parish priest. During the 1970s-80s there were further changes: the blue arched ceiling was repainted a glaring white. The 50 foot medieval floral design fire curtain at the north end of the church has been removed. The mosaic floor is now covered by wooden paneling. ===St Peter Chanel=== This school is connected with St Joseph's Convent as a consequence of being part of the same Catholic parish and under the auspices of the Marist Fathers and their theological house throughout the whole period they provided parochial care to St. Joseph's. Consequently, the two schools had a fraternal relationship. The Marist Fathers founded St Peter Chanel school and named it after their martyr and saint. A couple of the priests served as headmasters of the school.<ref>http://www.peterchanel.info/relics.htm</ref><ref>http://www.st-peterchanel.bexley.sch.uk/</ref> The uniform is distinctive from their St Joseph neighbours. Dark brown blazer, with an unusual bright yellow shirt. The school emblem is a cross against a background of palm fronds. At the turn of the century the population of Sidcup was mostly Anglican and Non-Conformist. By 1950 the number of Catholic residents had increased to a number to require the building of a second Roman Catholic school, St Mary’s Roman Catholic Grammar School for Boys, followed by a second primary school, St Peter Chanel in 1975, and a grammar school ===St Mary’s Roman Catholic Grammar School for Boys=== This is a now defunct secondary school in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Southwark. The school was opened as a result of its close educational and geographical connection to the primary school of St Joseph's Convent, the majority of boys on graduating from St Joseph's at the age of 10 or 11 attended this school, located half a mile from St Joseph's.<ref>http://www.newsshopper.co.uk/news/3784256.Bexley_Catholic_college_cannot_fill_classrooms/</ref><ref>http://www.schoolsnet.com/uk-schools/school-details-reviews/bexley/st-mary-st-joseph-catholic-school/16180339/0/197019.html</ref><ref>http://mackiegenealogy.blogspot.co.uk/2009/02/st-marys-grammar-school-chislehurst.html</ref><ref>http://www.thisislocallondon.co.uk/whereilive/southeast/bexley/3836708.print/</ref> Built in the 1950s by the Marist Fathers as a grammar school it had an excellent academic record. The school emblem was a bee which signified industriousness. In 1982 under changing circumstances the school became co-educational changing its name to St. Mary’s and St Joseph's Roman Catholic School. Academic results started falling dramatically from 1988. The condition was so severe that by 2001 it was decided to abolish secondary education and concentrate resources as a sixth form only college, renamed St Luke's Catholic Sixth Form. [32] In 2008 the college came under the auspices of the Christ the King Sixth Form College in Lewisham. This was followed by a name change from Christ the King to St Mary's. A priest of St Lawrence's and former headmaster of St Mary's Father Philip Graystone, . passed away at Dorrington House Car Home, Wells-next-the-Sea, at 11.30 pm on Monday 15 September 2014 on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. He is commemorated by a plaque at St Lawrence's. He wrote a number of books on traveling and landscapes. ===Verona Fathers === The Verona Fathers are an educational order with a strong presence in Central America, Africa and particularly Kenya. They place an emphasis on teaching science.<ref>http://www.comboni.org.uk/</ref><ref>http://www.comboni.org/welcome</ref> The order was commissioned with the care of the parish church in 1900. They were the first to provide pastoral care and religious worship to the nuns and pupils of St Joseph's. ==See also== *[[Apostolic Nunciature to Great Britain]] ==References== <references/> ==External links== *[http://www.rcsouthwark.co.uk/ Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark] *[http://www.rcsouthwark.co.uk/parlink.html Parishes of the diocese] *[http://www.southwark-rc-cathedral.org.uk/ St George's Roman Catholic Cathedral, Southwark] *[http://www.southwarkvocations.com/ Diocesan Vocations website] *{{CathEncy|wstitle=Southwark}} {{Roman Catholic dioceses in England and Wales}} {{coord|51.4979|-0.1080|type:adm2nd_region:GB|display=title}} [[Category:Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark|Southwark]] [[Category:Pope Pius IX]] [[Category:Roman Catholic dioceses and prelatures established in the 19th century|Southwark]] [[Category:Religious organizations established in 1850]] [[Category:Roman Catholic provinces in the United Kingdom|Southwark]] [[Category:1850 establishments in England]]'