The Channel Islands in Diocese of Portsmouth – Part 3

Cardinal Heenan lays the foundation stone of St. Bernadette
, Jersey, with Fr. O 'Regan O. M. I.  (left) and Canon Olney (right).
Lay members Mr and Mrs Leo Kelly

This week’s history comes from the “Diocese of Portsmouth: Past and Present” by Gerard Dwyer published in 1981, and looks at the history of Catholics in Jersey after the Reformation to the early 1980s.

The Channel Islands in Diocese of Portsmouth – Part 3

The Parishes of St. Matthew's and St. Aubin's

It was Fr. Volkerick of St. Thomas' who built out in the country the Church of St. Matthew in honour of Matthew de Gruchy. It was opened in 1872 in the presence of Bishop Danell of Southwark and Bishop Fournier of Rennes. For 10 years the Mission was served from St. Thomas' but because it had no resident priest it was not very successful.

In 1882, just after the foundation of the new Diocese of Portsmouth, Bishop Vertue gave the French Oblates charge of the Mission. The Mission revived and from it came the chapel of St. John and St. Anthony at Ville-a-I'Eveque in Trinity Parish and the chapel of St. Anne in St. Ouen's Parish; these still remain centres within St. Matthew's Parish.

A new granite Church of the Sacred Heart at St. Aubin was begun just at the outbreak of the Second World War and was completed and opened in June 1947. A small chapel dedicated to the Immaculate Conception was provided near St. Peter's and a larger one dedicated to St. Therese at La Moye. Both of these were later closed (the former because it was on land needed for the extension of the airport) and replaced in 1972 by the fine modern church of St. Bernadette in Les Quennevais Estate, the foundation stone of which was laid by Cardinal Heenan of Westminster during a visit to the Island.

Both of these parishes (St. Matthew's and the Sacred Heart) were handed over to the Irish Oblates in 1952. However, in 1981, St. Matthew's Parish became the responsibility of the Diocesan Clergy.

 The Parish of Our Lady at St. Martin's

In 1847 a French priest, Fr. Hallum from Bordeaux, settled in the Island. He built a small school and chapel in Faldouet which he called "Notre Dame de St. Martin."

Although in an unofficial capacity, he worked there for about eight years. In 1851 the parishioners sent a petition to Bishop Grant of Southwark asking for a priest sent to look after them. The petition was signed by 350 French and 200 Irish Jersey, with Fr. persons. The Irish had come to the Island because of the famine in Ireland and were working on the construction of St. Catherine's Harbour, the foundation stone of which bears the date of 1851.

Evidently Bishop Grant, who had only just taken over the newly formed Diocese of Southwark, was unable to grant their request. On 15^th April 1855 Fr. Hallum wrote again to say that he was leaving the Island. As no priest arrived, on 16th October another petition was prepared and signed "Benoit." It was addressed to the French Emperor, Napoleon III, stating how French Catholics were abandoned to their own devices in the eastern part of Jersey. This petition was transmitted to the Archbishop of Paris who in his turn forwarded it to the Bishop of Southwark.

Most probably this "Benoit" had drawn-up and signed the petition in ignorance of what had already been done by Bishop Grant. On 17th September 1856 he had already named Fr. Joseph Guiramand, a priest from the Diocese of Avignon, a former chaplain in the French Army and a Chevallier of the Legion of Honour, as priest in charge of the Catholic Mission of Our Lady and St. Martin. This priest was already 65 years old, and he was taking on no easy task.

We know from a letter written to Bishop Grant that when he arrived at St. Martin's there was nothing

there not even an altar-stone. He lodged first at No. 10 Duhamel Street, St. Helier.

By the following September he had reconstructed and blessed Fr. Hallum's old church and found a place in which to live in St. Martin's. In time the congregation increased and a larger church became necessary. But where was the money to come from? The parishioners were poor working men and a few retired people.

The only hope was to beg. Fr. Guiramand wrote to all the Bishops of France. We know that the Bishop of Besancon sent his offering through Bishop Grant. The Bishop of Coutances allowed a collection to be taken throughout his diocese, and a collection was also taken in most of the larger churches in Paris by permission of the Archbishop. The Queen of Portugal sent £20; the French Emperor, Napoleon III, sent a beautiful monstrance and a set of the Stations of the Cross. By September 1862 the foundations of this new church, to be dedicated to Our Lady and the Martyrs of Japan, had been laid. In February 1863 the church was blessed and opened by Bishop Grant, the sermon being preached by Mgr. Bracart, Bishop of Coutances.

Fr. Guiramand worked in the parish for 26 years until his death at the age of 89 in September 1882. He was succeeded by Fr. Tardivon who died after two years. The Jesuits then took care of the Mission until 1884. In that year Bishop Vertue of Portsmouth asked the French Oblates to take over the parish. This they did until 1960 when they handed it over to the care of the priests of the Anglo-Irish Province of Oblates who are still in residence.

The history of the parish under the French Oblates is a story of valiant efforts to provide Catholic schools. The Dames de St. Andre were a great help by building a large school for girls. In 1893 St. Joseph's, Grouville, was opened as a school chapel and though renovated continues in use until today. But all the schools had to close eventually because of Jersey Law.

Within the parish a tiny chapel dedicated to the Assumption was opened in Gorey Village in 1903. In more recent times this was replaced by the purchase of a building stone of nearby which had started life as a non-Conformist chapel, then been adapted to become a cinema and finally was turned into a Catholic church.

 The Irish Mission in Jersey: St. Mary and St. Peter's Church

Fr. Francis Isherwood, whilst an assistant priest in Jersey in the early 1970s, wrote an extensive account of Catholicism in the Island. The heading of this section has been taken from his account of the parish of St. Mary and St. Peter which appeared in the Jersey Catholic Record of July 1974.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century the building of Fort Regent brought a number of Irish labourers to Jersey. At first they went to Mass in the French chapel in Castle Street. From 1811 to 1821 separate registers were kept for the French- and English-speaking communities. Within a few years the numbers of Irish had grown so much that the chapel in Castle Street had become too small for both communities.

The Irish and French did not get on too well together perhaps it was a problem of language - complaining that each would not make way for the other. The Irish complained to Bishop Poynter of the London District. In 1821 Fr. J. Carroll arrived, and in 1826 he built a chapel off Hue Street in St. Helier. Unfortunately the chapel had to be sold the following year: the money to build it had been borrowed and the mortgage could not be repaid.

In September 1829 Fr. Matthew Ryan came to Jersey; Hue Street chapel was re-acquired and put to its original use. Ten years later the chapel had become too small for the congregation and the priest in charge, Fr. John Cunningham, decided that a bigger church would have to be built. A new site was found in Vauxhall Street, and the foundation stone was laid on Wednesday, 13th October 1841.

The stone has a brass plaque with the following inscription (in Latin):

 The Foundation Stone of this Church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, was laid by Wm. Burke Esq. in the year of Our Lord 1841, The Right Rev. Thomas Griffiths, Bishop of Oleno, being Vicar Apostolic of the London District, the Rev. J. Cunningham being Pastor and James Parkinson the Architect.