Wirral’s Dome of Home Ss Peter and Paul church could reopen around the clock

Jan 3 2012 by Liam Murphy, Liverpool Echo

LANDMARK Wirral church Ss Peter and Paul which reopened after a campaign by parishioners could become a 24-hour “beacon” for worship, according its new priest.

Ss Peter & Paul, known as the “Dome of Home” closed in August 2008, causing shock in the New Brighton community.

A high-profile campaign to re-open it was won against the odds after the fight was taken to the Vatican and services resumed in its day chapel in March last year.

The Dome of Home’s new priest Canon Olivier Meney today outlined ambitious plans for the church, now renamed Ss Peter and Paul and Philomena to mark its early history.

He said: “The Bishop wants to open the church as a shrine dedicated to a particular purpose. He wants to promote devotion to the greater sacrament.

“The dream is to have 24/7 public worship in the church, day and night.

“We are going to do that slowly, by steps. It will become a beacon.”

Campaigner Tony Pritchard, a former councillor who backed those opposing the closure of the church, said new ideas for the building were welcome.

The church even managed to hold its first midnight mass since 2007, with around a 100 people attending despite relatively short notice.