“It is a joy to see all of you here today. As the Bishop I want to thank each one of you immensely for all your support and for all you do to serve the Lord and His Church here in this Cathedral parish. Thank you for your support of Fr. James, Fr. Ryan and the clergy. Fr James is going to speak in a moment, but in preparation, I wish to say a few words myself. As you know, our Cathedral church was built in 1882; it’s now almost 150 years old. It is a magnificent church, built in French gothic style, tall with a narrow nave. There are other styles for churches, but Gothic is very fitting. The tall slender columns are like trees. They make you look upwards. They give a sense of majesty and transcendence. They draw the eye towards the sky, heaven and God. Pope Benedict saw Gothic architecture as a synthesis of faith and art, characterised by a soaring upward movement that expresses the desire of the soul for the divine. When you enter our Cathedral, your eye is drawn along the roof to the far end, to the sanctuary, to the great hanging crucifix and to the high altar where Jesus Christ in the Mass lays down His life for us.

It’s now 25 years since under Canon David Hopgood, we repaired, redecorated and refreshed the building. He and his team did a marvellous job. But today, a quarter century later, the Cathedral is beginning to look a bit dowdy. There are all sorts of repairs needed, much unseen: the heating system, the leaking roof in St. Patrick’s chapel, the internal lights etc. Less than half the external lights function. I remember when I first came as Bishop in 2012, Paul Inwood told me that the organ, which was second-hand, was on its last legs. Fr. James and everyone are doing their best, but a lot of the site is now beginning to look sad. Bishops House needs a lot of work and this Cathedral Hall is very basic and outdated. Yesterday, I was in Plymouth for the new bishop, a Cathedral church of a similar style to ours, yet it was bright with coloured statues and a renewed sanctuary. In Norwich, they have a big welcome-centre and café. In Cardiff, they have just bought the building opposite; they are turning it into a state of the art conference centre. In Birmingham, St. Chad’s, a Grade 2* listed building, they’ve added a superb organ gallery that looks as if it was part of the original design. Nowadays when I look at our Cathedral and its ensemble of buildings, with a boarded-off side-door, with poor lighting, with the brickwork of the aula deteriorating, with the absence of proper welcome facilities, and a House that needs a new heating system and rewiring, it’s clearly time for us to do some major work.

The Cathedral is the Mother Church of our Diocese. We should be proud of it: its people and clergy, its music and its architecture, the mission and outreach it undertakes. The Cathedral should be an advert for the Catholic faith. I would love us to have a proper welcome centre, opening the aula onto the street as a quality café. We are in an area of the city with many special needs. I would love us to do a lot more for the homeless and the poor. Again, the Cathedral could be a major visitor attraction, a place to see, to look around, to pray and ‘catch’ faith – a place where religious cultural events take place. With decent conference facilities we could transfer a lot of clergy and lay formation to this site. There are other projects too that would ensure that Jesus is at the centre of everything we do.

We need to pray. This is the key thing: prayer. But we also need to develop a realistic vision and a plan for repair, renewal and updating. In 2032, the Cathedral will be 150 years old. Let us pray we can find a way to renew it and to make it vibrant for the next quarter century and more. Canon James is now going to speak, so let me hand over to him.”