Please give us a voice in the future of St Margaret Clitherow Church, Bracknell Jul 19. 2011 | Comments (0)
We held our first public meeting on Saturday 16th July, in respect of the future of Saint Margaret Clitherow Church. It was an overwhelming response with more than 70 people present. They were asked to say how many each attendee represented (family members, and our infirm parishioners delegating others with their vote): around 230 parishioners are in agreement with wanting to discuss the future of St Margaret Clitherow Church with the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth. At this meeting, people were able for the first time to speak freely and air their views.
Last year, during the letters-only consultation with the diocese, when the matter of possible closure was first raised, we were told ‘weight of numbers’ was not a factor in determining the future of the church. It has been widely broadcast that the majority of parishioners were resigned to the decision.
We now have overwhelming evidence that this is not the case. At the last separate mass count, Saint Margaret Clitherow had approximately 300 mass attendees. More than two thirds of the direct stakeholders of St Margaret Clitherow’s Church have now made it clear they would like demolition halted and the church made good.
In view of this, we once again respectfully request that, until there has been time for appropriate consultation and exploration of the options, further work to demolish Saint Margaret Clitherow be stopped.