The Catholic Church in Jersey is part of the worldwide
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, under the spiritual leadership of the
Pope
The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...
in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
History of the Catholic Church in Jersey
Conversion in the 6th century
Sometime between 535 and 545
Helier
Saint Helier (died 555) was a 6th-century ascetic hermit. He is the patron saint of Jersey in the Channel Islands, and in particular of the town and parish of Saint Helier, the island's capital. He is also invoked as a healing saint for diseases ...
, who was to become
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...
's
patron saint
A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...
, went to the island and brought the
gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...
.
From Catholicism to Protestantism in the Middle Ages
The island of Jersey remained part of the Duchy of
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
until 1204 when King
Philip II Augustus
Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...
of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
conquered the duchy from King
John of England
John (24 December 1166 – 19 October 1216) was King of England from 1199 until his death in 1216. He lost the Duchy of Normandy and most of his other French lands to King Philip II of France, resulting in the collapse of the Angevin Emp ...
. The islands remained in the personal possession of the king and were described as being a Peculiar of the Crown. However, throughout the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...
, the Catholic Church did not concern itself with overly political changes and the island continued to be part of the Norman
diocese of Coutances
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Cathe ...
. It was reluctant to come under the wing of the English church because it had many ties with Normandy: its language, which was much like that of the Normans; trade links;
Norman customary law; and kinship to families in Normandy.
The island embraced the French Calvinist form of
Protestantism
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...
during the
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
and the orders were received to remove all signs of Catholicism in 1547 with the Act of Dissolution of the Colleges and
Chantries
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
# a chantry service, a Christian liturgy of prayers for the dead, which historically was an obiit, or
# a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in ...
, which had been applied to Jersey in the
Act of Uniformity 1549
The Act of Uniformity 1549, was an Act of the Parliament of England, passed on 21 January 1549.
It was the logical successor of the Edwardian Injunctions of 1547 and the Sacrament Act of the same year which had taken piecemeal steps towards ...
: numerous wayside crosses were destroyed, along with religious statues and other symbols. In 1550 a
Royal Commission visited the island to sell church property for the benefit of the crown; in 1551 Sir
Hugh Paulet
Sir Hugh Paulet (bef. 1510 – 6 December 1573) (or Poulet, his spelling) of Hinton St George in Somerset, was an English military commander and Governor of Jersey.
Origins
Born after 1500, he was the eldest son of Sir Amias Paulet of Hinton St ...
, a member of this Royal Commission, was made Governor of the island and so he returned with a Royal Commission addressed to himself to continue the task. The island remained under the diocese of Coutances until 1569.
Waves of Catholic immigration in the 19th century
In the 1790s, during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
, French Catholics took refuge in Jersey, allowed to hold services but not to proselytize.
In the 1830s and 1840s the island's Catholic community knew growth with the influx of Irish labourers coming to work on major building projects such as the new harbour.
Towards the end of the 19th century Catholic teaching and nursing orders — the
De La Salle brothers
french: Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes
, image = Signum Fidei.jpg
, image_size = 175px
, caption =
, abbreviation = FSC
, nickname = Lasallians
, named_after =
, formation ...
,
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
and
Little Sisters of the Poor
The Little Sisters of the Poor (french: Petites Sœurs des pauvres) is a Catholic religious institute for women. It was founded by Jeanne Jugan. Having felt the need to care for the many impoverished elderly who lined the streets of French towns ...
— settled in Jersey. In 1894, the Jesuits bought a property called Highlands, which later became
Highlands College. In 1917, the De La Salle Brothers founded
De La Salle College, Jersey
De La Salle College in Jersey is a private independent Catholic all-boys school taking its name from St. John Baptist de La Salle (1651–1719), who founded the De La Salle Brothers in France.
History
De La Salle College takes its name from ...
.
Occupation of Jersey
During the
German occupation of the Channel Islands
The military occupation of the Channel Islands by Nazi Germany lasted for most of the Second World War, from 30 June 1940 until liberation on 9 May 1945. The Bailiwick of Jersey and Bailiwick of Guernsey are two island countries and British ...
, the Germans imported a priest from Normandy who was alleged to have sympathies with the
Vichy regime
Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its terr ...
.
The Catholic Church in Jersey today
Today, Jersey is under the diocese of
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
.
There are eight Catholic churches on the island. However, there is a shortage of priests and workers and the Catholic Church there has therefore had to close two chapels and sell some of its churches.
Minorities of the Catholic faith in Jersey are not negligible, as
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...
in certain churches (such as Saint Thomas's, pictured right) is regularly held in
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
and
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
and only occasionally today in
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
. Indeed, 6% of Jersey's population is
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
(especially
Madeiran
)
, anthem = ( en, "Anthem of the Autonomous Region of Madeira")
, song_type = Regional anthem
, image_map=EU-Portugal_with_Madeira_circled.svg
, map_alt=Location of Madeira
, map_caption=Location of Madeira
, subdivision_type=Sovereign st ...
, having come to the island to work in the hotel and catering industry) and among the 6% of
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
ans there is a large
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
community and a considerable
Polish
Polish may refer to:
* Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe
* Polish language
* Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent
* Polish chicken
*Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...
community.
International Relations - Profile of Jersey
See also
*Religion in Jersey
Despite its small size, the population of Jersey is made of people with a diverse range of religions and beliefs. Traditionally seen as a Christian island, Jersey's established church is the Church of England, and Anglicanism and Catholicism are p ...
*Beaulieu Convent School
Beaulieu Convent School is a Roman Catholic independent school for girls located in St Helier, Jersey.
The school was established in 1951 by sisters from the Order of the Immaculate Conception. In 1999 the Order of the Immaculate Conception gif ...
*
References
Online
*Jersey Heritage Trust
Jersey Heritage is an independent Charitable trust, trust in Jersey which is responsible for the island's major historic sites, museums, and public archives. It holds collections of artefacts, works of art, documents, specimens, and informati ...
Timeline of Jersey History
External links
BBC - Jersey - Faith
{{Catholic Church in Europe
Jersey
Jersey ( , ; nrf, Jèrri, label=Jèrriais ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey (french: Bailliage de Jersey, links=no; Jèrriais: ), is an island country and self-governing Crown Dependencies, Crown Dependency near the coast of north-west F ...