Wirral All Saints church cannot hold weddings

Jun 16 2010 by Liam Murphy, Wallasey News

A SHARED church in Wirral has been unable to hold weddings for the last two years, it has been revealed.

All Saints church in Wallasey has been shared between Anglican and Catholic worshippers in New Brighton since the controversial decision by the Shrewsbury Diocese to shut the Catholic Ss Peter and Paul’s church two years ago.

Since the closure members of the congregation have been offered services at the nearby Anglican All Saints Church, although a number have chosen to go to Catholic masses elsewhere.

The diocese forced the closure in 2008, saying Ss Peter and Paul’s was too large for the congregation and too expensive to keep operating.

Diocese of Shrewsbury spokesman Fr John Joyce confirmed the sharing arrangement for former Ss Peter & Paul parishioners with the Anglican All Saints church did not allow for Catholic weddings in the shared church.

He said: “To authorise a Catholic wedding it has to be a Catholic building, it’s a legal requirement. Until it becomes a Catholic church it cannot be authorised by the civil authorities.”

However, he added: “As far as I’m aware no one has requested a wedding there in the parish.”

He said if people from the area wanted a Catholic wedding other churches in Wirral would be available.

A spokesman for Wirral Council said moves to allow Catholic weddings were “still progressing to get All Saints in order to have Roman Catholic marriages”.

Local councillor Paul Hayes, who has backed campaigners seeking to re-open Ss Peter & Paul’s church, said: “The fact that Catholic marriages cannot take place in All Saints Church is evidence of the shambolic way in which this ‘sharing arrangement’ has been pursued.