Westminster Record | February 2015

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Parish Profile

Page 9

In the shadow of the greatarch over the new WembleyStadium sits the Church of StJoseph. The parish ofWembley 1 is under thepastoral care of the Carmelitesof Mary Immaculate (CMI),whose founder, St KuriakoseElias Chavara, was canonisedin November. I met Fr JohnMenonkari CMI, ParishPriest, and two ‘elders’, PatMcLoughlin and VictorGabriel, to talk about theparish just a stone’s throwaway from the nationalstadium.

Founded in 1831 bySt Kuriakose in Kerala, India,the CMI’s growth since thenhas been impressive.Interestingly, St Kuriakose iswidely acknowledged in Indiatoday for his work to reformthe caste system, education andsocial care, and so hisreputation extended beyond theChurch. The order was both thefirst Syro-Malabar Catholic tobe founded and the first inIndia, although it did notexpand beyond Kerala’sborders until 1962. And whyKerala you may ask? Accordingto legend and tradition it wasvisited by St Thomas theApostle who sailed to India in52 AD and brought Christianityto the sub-continent. Thus astrong tradition and devotion tohim grew in India; his remainsare buried in Chennai in theSan Thome Basilica.

Kerala Comes to North LondonSince 1962, the order has

spread across the world andcontinues to grow. Currentlythere are nine CMI Bishops,over 1,750 priests and nearly athousand more in formation.The Order serves 12 parishesin England and Wales, and alsoworks in hospitals, children’shomes, institutes for thementally and physicallychallenged, homes for the agedand universities. It seemsironic that at one time theWestern Orders of old wouldsend missionaries to the sub-continent but now the sub-continent is sendingmissionaries back to the Westto reinvigorate a continent thatPope Francis recently called‘somewhat elderly andhaggard’.

It is because of the Asiancharacter of the Order that itspartnership with Wembleyseems perfect. An area oncedominated by Irish migrantshas given way to a new waveof migrants from Asia. Myhosts estimated around 85 to90% of parishioners come fromAsian communities: Goa, SriLanka, India and thePhilippines especially.Although liturgies are inEnglish, the parish also hostsethnic chaplains who say Massfor the Tamil, Konkani andMalayalam communities aswell. Victor and Pat reportedthat since the CMI priestsarrived in Wembley in 2006,Mass attendance has doubled,with around 2,000 people eachweekend in the pews. AtChristmas they estimated 4,000people attended Mass. Evenduring the week, it is notuncommon to see 350 peoplefor Mass. And to what did theyattribute this? They told methat in the last 10 years theparish has become sowelcoming to all peoples and agreat place to support families,something which St Kuriakosestressed and wrote extensivelyabout in his lifetime. Familiesare a large part of thecongregation and are ‘verydevout worshippers’. Victorreported that around five newfamilies a week are registeringas parishioners, such is thelove for the Faith andcommunity. What Fr John has

Founded: 1901, 1957Mass Times: (Sat 6.30pm), 9,12noon, 7.30pmAddress: 339 High Road,Wembley HA9 6AGTelephone: 020 8902 0081

Website: parish.rcdow.org.uk/wembley

created, they said, was a‘prosperous environment’,which is reaping benefits forthe life of the parish.

The Church itself isdeceptive. It was built in 1957to replace the 1901 originalwhich had become too smallfor the growing number ofIrish migrant parishioners. Thecurrent building has a capacityof 850, nearly three times morethan the original. It has a tall,rectangular front which gives afalse impression that it will belong and tall inside. Insteadthe nave is low and domed,making the building feel muchmore intimate. The walls are adark shade of green, with sidechapels and arches withstatues of the saints. There isone statue which my hostswere keen to highlight for me.It was donated by the CMIcommunity from Kerala and isan 80kg solid teak wood statueof St Kuriakose. It took acentral place at the recent Masscelebrated by Cardinal Vincenton the occasion of the saint’scanonisation, but needs a newplinth because of its weight.

Connected to the parish area pastoral centre, which serves

as a place for catecheticalactivities and as a meetingplace for many groups in theparish, and St Joseph’s PrimarySchool, shared betweenWembley 1 and Wembley 3, St Erconwald’s parish. Theschool’s playground waswhere Pope St John Paul II’shelicopter landed in 1982 whenhe said Mass in the oldWembley Stadium. Looking tothe future, the parish isbuilding a new catecheticalcentre from ‘Growing in Faith’money on a lawn in front ofthe church because they arerunning out of space in thecurrent pastoral centre. It iscertainly a parish where theFaith is alive and well for thenext generation.

I always thought that one ofthe mysteries of the diocesewas the need for three parishesin Wembley; surely you couldconsolidate them all into one?But after visiting St Joseph’sand hearing about the numberof people that come throughthe doors each week, puttingall those parishes togetherwould be impossible. Unless,of course, they used the nearbyWembley Arena for Mass. But

By Chris O’Callaghan

how refreshing it was to leavethe parish knowing it is full tobursting point. Maybe thecombined prayers of 2,000people might improve thefortunes of the Englandnational team next time theyplay at Wembley though?

The interior of the church with its low domed ceiling and green interior.

Statue of St Kuriakose gifted tothe parish from the CMIcommunity in Kerala, India

The exterior of the church

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