St Catherine of Siena Church is a

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of the

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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 ...

situated on Bristol Street in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, in the

Archdiocese of Birmingham The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church. The archdiocese covers an area of , encompassing Staffordshir ...

. Founded in 1874, its parish church was demolished and replaced in 1964. It was run by the

Missionary Society of St. Columban The Missionary Society of St. Columban ( la, Societas Sancti Columbani pro Missionibus ad Exteros) (abbreviated as S.S.C.M.E. or SSC), commonly known as the Columbans, is a missionary Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right foun ...

from 2005 to 2013.

History

Horse Fair

With the Roman Catholic population in Birmingham increasing in the 19th century, a Catholic school was built on Windmill Street in 1869 to provide an education for the new families in the area.History
from St Catherine's Birmingham, retrieved 19 April 2013 Later, a new church had to be built to accommodate their needs. So on 30 April 1874, the foundation stone for a new

Gothic revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...

church, St Catherine of Siena's, was laid in the Horse Fair part of the city by Bishop William Ullathorne of

. He also presided at the opening ceremony of the church on 28 September 1875. Originally, only the nave and sanctuary was built.Diamond Jubilee at Birmingham Mission founded 1856
from ''Catholic Herald Archives'' retrieved 19 April 2013Dargue, Bill,
Lee Bank City Centre
', retrieved 19 April 2013 By October 1893, the chancel, lady chapel and sacristy were ready and by 1909 the tower was completed. By 1918 the church was free of debt and consecrated in June that year. It was located where the Holloway Circus roundabout is situated on Bristol Street, Birmingham.

Bristol Street

On 1 June 1964, the church in Horse Fair was de-consecrated by Archbishop Francis Grimshaw of Birmingham, as the building was bought by the local council under a

compulsory purchase order A compulsory purchase order (CPO; , ) is a legal function in the United Kingdom and Ireland that allows certain bodies to obtain land or property without the consent of the owner. It may be enforced if a proposed development is considered one for p ...

so that it could be demolished and a road system could be made in the area. This was part of the Inner Ring Road project. As well as the church, the surrounding old terraced housing was also demolished and replaced with council flats. While a new church was being built,

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 ...

was held in the nearby school. On 20 December 1964, the new church was opened. It is a circular domed building, with the altar in the centre of the church, making it compliant with the decrees of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. It was built on the corner of Irving Street and is made of brick and concrete. Inside the church, the Stations of the Cross are a memento from the old building.

Present

From 2005, the church was administered by the Columban missionaries. In 2013, the Archdiocese of Birmingham again assumed administration of the parish. Next door to the church is St Catherine of Siena Catholic Primary School, which has a close relationship with the church; preparing children for the sacraments of

reconciliation Reconciliation or reconcile may refer to: Accounting * Reconciliation (accounting) Arts, entertainment, and media Sculpture * ''Reconciliation'' (Josefina de Vasconcellos sculpture), a sculpture by Josefina de Vasconcellos in Coventry Cathedra ...

, communion, and confirmation.About Us
from St Catherine Catholic School, retrieved 19 April 2013 The parish hosts a Justice and Peace group and plays a role in the local

Citizens UK Citizens UK is a grassroots alliance of many local communities working together. Citizens UK has 17 chapters across the UK made up of local institutions, including schools, universities, churches, mosques, synagogues, parent groups, health trus ...

organisation in Birmingham. Next to the church is the presbytery which used to host the parish social centre. However, it has recently been used for a project involving the rehabilitation of young offenders.Fr Jim Fleming SSC
from Columbans.co.uk retrieved 19 April 2013

Exterior

File:Holloway Circus roundabout, with Pagoda - geograph.org.uk - 1459571.jpg, Location for previous church File:St Catherine's Catholic Church - geograph.org.uk - 1113712.jpg, View from the road File:St Catherine of Siena, Birmingham church tower.JPG, Church tower File:St Catherine of Siena, Birmingham side view.JPG, Side view File:St Catherine of Siena, Birmingham exterior.JPG, Exterior

References

External links

St Catherine of Siena Parish site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Birmingham, Saint Catherine of Siena Saint Catherine 1874 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Religious organizations established in 1874 20th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Roman Catholic churches completed in 1965 Rebuilt churches in the United Kingdom