St George's Church is a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

Worcester Worcester may refer to: Places United Kingdom * Worcester, England, a city and the county town of Worcestershire in England ** Worcester (UK Parliament constituency), an area represented by a Member of Parliament * Worcester Park, London, Engl ...

. It was founded in 1829 and was administered by the

Society of Jesus The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rome. It was founded in 1540 ...

until 1990 when it was handed over to the Archdiocese of Birmingham. It is in the

Baroque style The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo (i ...

, is a Grade II* listed building and was where

Edward Elgar Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...

was organist from 1885.

History

There was another, earlier, church built on the same site in 1729, but little is known about it. From 1623, for their own administrative purposes the Jesuits divided the country into 'residences' and St George's church was named after the 'residence' that covered Warwickshire and Worcestershire, St George's. The church was opened on 16 July 1829 by, the

Vicar Apostolic of the Midland District The Vicariate Apostolic of the Midland District (later of the Central District) was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic) who was a titular bishop. The Apostolic Vicar ...

, Bishop Thomas Walsh and was designed by Henry Rowe. Later that century, in 1880 the church was extended and the facade was heightened seven years later, to the designs of S. J. Nicoll, who also designed the interior of the Jesuit staffed Church of Saint Francis Xavier in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. Behind the altar is a large-scale copy of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

's Transfiguration. The original is significant to the city of Worcester because it was commissioned by Cardinal Giulio de' Medici in 1517. Cardinal Medici went on become the titular

Bishop of Worcester The Bishop of Worcester is the Ordinary (officer), head of the Church of England Anglican Diocese of Worcester, Diocese of Worcester in the Province of Canterbury, England. The title can be traced back to the foundation of the diocese in the ...

from 1520 to 1522 and was elected as

Pope Clement VII Pope Clement VII (; ; born Giulio di Giuliano de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the most unfortunate o ...

in 1523. The copy was presented to the church in 1837 by The 16th Earl of Shrewsbury.

Organ

The organ was installed in 1885, the same year that the English composer

became the church organist. He succeeded his father at the age of 27, being assistant organist from the age of 15. He was organist at the church for four further years. The organ was rebuilt in 1970 by Nicholson & Co (Worcester) Ltd, and the stops that were from the old organ were marked 'E' to indicate what Elgar used when he played it.Our history
from StGeorgesRC-Worcester.org.uk retrieved 11 August 2013

Parish

The church has 2 Sunday Masses: Sunday at 10:00am and 11:30am, and a Polish Mass at 2:00pm Furthermore, there are usually weekday Masses at 10:00am, Monday to Saturday. Confession can be heard on Saturday from 10:45am to 11.45am The parish also has a relationship with the nearby ''St George's Catholic Primary School'' which states on its website that 'We are proud of our links to St George's Catholic Church, Worcester, where Elgar was an organist for many years.'About Us
from St George's Catholic Primary School retrieved 13 August 2013

References

External links

Catholic Worcester site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Worcester, Saint George Church Saint George Church Grade II* listed churches in Worcestershire Saint George Church Roman Catholic churches completed in 1829 Roman Catholic churches in Worcestershire Grade II* listed Roman Catholic churches in England 1829 establishments in England 19th-century Roman Catholic church buildings in the United Kingdom Neoclassical church buildings in England

History

Organ

Parish

See also

References

External links