Welcome to our parish website. We hope you find the contents here helpful whether you are a parishioner or a visitor. If you have an enquiry please either email the Parish Office  stmarysphilip@aol.co.uk  or telephone 0191 460 4274. 

The Parish Secretary, Julie Hindmarsh, will be in the Parish Office at Immaculate Heart Presbytery on Tuesday 27 July & Friday 30 July between 10am – 2pm. She can also be contacted Tuesday – Friday, 10am – 2pm by email  stmarysphilip@aol.co.uk or by telephone 0191 460 4274 / 07891 162205.

PARISH NEWSLETTER The latest edition is available here.

PROTECTING THE HEALTH OF OUR CLERGY AND CONGREGATIONS (Updated Step 4: guidance) Bishop Robert Byrne CO, in consultation with the Episcopal Council, has taken both Clergy and Lay advice with regard to HM Government’s announcement about Step 4 of the Covid–19 Roadmap. Due to the very high infection rates across all areas of the Diocese, Bishop Robert has asked that Clergy retain all of the COVID control measures and cleaning protocols that they are currently following in all of our churches and church halls until at least the end of August 2021. In September there will be a review of available data and guidance to allow further decisions to be made regarding controls and protocols. To read the full text of Bishop Robert’s statement please click here.

Please click here to view a statement (‘Sunday – it is our Day’) from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

RESUMPTION OF MASSES AT ST MARY’S AND ST PHILIP NERI CHURCHES                                                              A message from Fr Peter:

I am pleased to announce that together with Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, St Mary’s and St Philip Neri Churches have now re-opened for the public celebration of Mass. Until further notice, please note the times of Saturday Vigil/Sunday Masses in our three churches will be:

Saturday 5.30pm at St Philip Neri Church

Sunday 9.00am at St Mary’s Church

Sunday 10.30am at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church

Again, until further notice, please ‘book in’ if you intend to attend any of these Masses following the procedure outlined below.

Weekday Masses – You do not have to ‘book in’ for weekday Masses listed in the weekly newsletter, but you will need to sign in if you are attending a weekday Mass.

I should like to express my sincere gratitude to our volunteer stewards and our employed cleaners for their on-going commitment in enabling our churches to be open and providing a safe environment for us to be able to worship together as a parish community.

If you would like to join our group of dedicated volunteer stewards, please contact Katie Wilkinson tel. 07837 386760 or email teachkate1@gmail.com

BOOKING IN FOR THE SATURDAY VIGIL & SUNDAY MORNING MASSES

In order to ensure that all those coming to any of our three churches for the Saturday Vigil or Sunday morning Masses can have a seat and be safely accommodated, there is a dedicated telephone ‘booking in’ system – the telephone number is 07388 814715 and you can contact this number Monday – Wednesday, 11am – 6pm. Please note this number does not accept text messaging and there is no facility to leave a message.

For those who have booked-in and are attending Mass, the church will open half an hour before the published Mass time.

The wearing of a face covering is expected unless a person has an exemption from this and, at all times whilst in church, you should observe social distancing (i.e. 2 metres) from anyone not in your household or support bubble.

A one-way system is in place in the church, plus hand sanitisers as you enter and leave church. Once in church, please be guided by the volunteer stewards.

There is also a poster on display with the church’s QR code which can be scanned using the NHS COVID-19 app if you have downloaded it onto your mobile phone. Contact details will also still be requested, manually noted and safely stored for 21 days.

N.B. Until further notice, the obligation for the faithful to attend Mass on a Sunday or Holyday of Obligation is suspended.

Please note from Sunday 11 July there will no longer be recorded Mass available on our Parish YouTube channel. Masses broadcast from other locations can be viewed via the diocesan website www.rcdhn.org.uk  or www.churchservices.tv

BLESSED JOHN INGRAM As many of you will know, Blessed John Ingram (1565 – 1594), who is patron of our local Partnership, was a Reformation martyr who was executed on Gateshead High Street for ministering to the faithful of this region. During his ministry, he was assisted and sheltered by local aristocrats, but was eventually apprehended and convicted on a charge of high treason. We ask you to please pray for the canonisation of this dedicated and selfless martyr. An on-line petition has been set up to gain support for his cause. For the petition and more information on Blessed John Ingram, please click here. You can also read more about him on the Diocesan website’s Northern Saints pages.

SUPPORT FOR PARISHIONERS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC