The weekend of the 4-6 November 2023 was marked by a visitation from Bishop Paul Swarbrick. Bishop Paul is, of course, no stranger to this part of the world as he was the parish priest of Christ the Good Shepherd parish and so there was a sense of excitement across the parish as the date of his visit approached. But Bishop Paul wasn't just returning to the parish to catch up with old friends; this time he was arriving in his role as Bishop. A visitation takes places every few years as a way of expressing the bond between the parish and its bishop under whose authority the priests that serve a particular parish operate. The Bishop is the bond of unity in the local church, uniting our parish to the Diocese of Lancaster, which in turn is part of the one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church, with Pope Francis at its head. And so, Bishop Paul's visit was an expression of that charity that unites the Church.

After arriving at the Priory, Bishop Paul's primary task was to celebrate Mass in each of the churches of our parish, to preach, teach and sanctify the people. It was wonderful to see a number of children and young people from our schools who joined us for these occasions, singing especially-prepared music, reading the Readings and Bidding Prayers. At the end of Mass there were refreshments and parishioners had the opportunity to greet and talk with the Bishop. During the Mass at Our Lady and St Michael's church, Paul Briers was formally accepted by the Bishop as a Candidate for the Diaconate. Paul has re-started his studies to become a Deacon and, God willing, upon the completion of his studies and preparations, he will be ordained to serve this parish. 

On the Monday, the Bishop's day began with an early morning Mass with students and staff in the new chapel in St Joseph's RC High School. After breakfast, Bishop Paul met the Head Girl and Head Boy, Sophie and Max, and members of the School Student Council who delivered a presentation on servant leadership. There followed a discussion on how to exercise leadership in different contexts, the challenges and sacrifices that it requires. From here, Bishop Paul returned to Banklands for the Big Assembly, a gathering of all the Year 4, 5 and 6 pupils of St Mary's Harrington, St Gregory's and St Patrick's schools. The theme of the Assembly was Christ the Good Shepherd and the children had prepared readings, songs and artwork which they presented, before a time of Adoration and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

No sooner had the Assembly concluded, another group of parishioners gathered in the newly refurbished sacristy of Our Lady & St Michael's church. The sacristy project has been on the go since the time when Bishop Paul was parish priest, but more pressing projects and Covid interrupted the works on the sacristy. Over the past six months the sacristy has been transformed with the repair and renewal of the Pugin encaustic tiling, re-wiring, re-decoration and new furnishings. A team of cleaners, brass polishers, sacristans, altar servers and flower arrangers rejoiced as the Bishop blessed the renewed sacristy, before sharing a light lunch with him in the Stella Maris Room where the Bishop was able to hear other news about the parish and how it is developing.

Before he left, the Bishop was also able to meet individually with Sr Eleanor at Dupuis Convent, Canon John and Fr Philip at the Priory, and with a few parishioners in some of the nursing homes, bringing to an end a very happy, packed schedule of events. Having met over a thousand people, young and old, the Bishop retired to his car to drive to his next appointment in the south of the Diocese. Our hearts and prayers go out to Bishop Paul who gives so much of himself to all of us. We hope that his visit to Workington and Harrington was in some way an encouragement to him as it was to us.