Saturday, 18 February 2012

The Most Reverend Patrick Kelly, Archbishop of Liverpool, and former Bishop of Salford, celebrated the Golden Jubilee of his ordination to the Priesthood with a Mass of Thanksgiving last Sunday.

The Bishop, priests and people of the Diocese of Salford send our wamest congratulations to Archbishop Kelly on his Golden Jubilee and offer him our prayers for his continuing service to the Church as Archbishop of Liverpool and Metropolitan. Ad Multos Annos.

The Archbishop was ordained on 18th February 1962 in the chapel of the Venerable English College, Rome, by Cardinal William Godfrey, himself a former Archbishop of Liverpool (1953-1956) also present was a future Archbishop of Liverpool (1976-1996) and Archbishop Kelly’s predecessor, the then Monsignor Derek Worlock, who was Master of Ceremonies and Secretary to the Cardinal.

Archbishop Kelly was Bishop of Salford from 1984 to 1996 when he was translated to Liverpool.

At the beginning of Sunday afternoon’s Mass, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Williams invited Father Stephen Maloney and Father James Preston, of the Archdiocesan Vocations Team, together with their families, to present to the Archbishop a crozier (Bishop’s staff) designed for him by Raphael Seitz.

The First Reading at Sunday’s Mass (Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24-25) was read by His Honour Judge Robert Altham, the Archbishop’s second cousin. The Lord Mayor of Liverpool, Councillor Frank Prendergast, read the Second Reading (2 Corinthians 1:18-22). The Gospel Reading was from St Mark’s Gospel (2:1-12).

The Archbishop’s nephew, John Kelly, led the Prayers of the Faithful. The gifts were carried to the altar by the Lord Lieutenant of Merseyside, Dame Lorna Muirhead, and Jason Crompton, Grace McBride, Matt Scargill and Lucy Cullen, students from Cardinal Newman College, formerly Preston Catholic College, which the Archbishop attended.

Among those attending the Mass were Cardinal Jean-Louis Tauran, President of the Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue of which Archbishop Kelly is a member. His Excellency Archbishop Antonio Mennini, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, also attended as did Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, Archbishop Emeritus of Westminster.

Liverpool priest, His Excellency Archbishop Paul Gallagher, who serves the Holy See as Apostolic Nuncio to Guatemala, attended together with Bishops from throughout England and Wales and from Scotland, Ireland and Gibraltar. A special visitor was the Right Reverend Don Franco Pirisi, Vicar General of the Diocese of Ispahan in Iran where Archbishop Kelly has visited on several occasions as part of his work with the Bishops’ Conference Department of International Affairs.