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The Parish Clergy
St Augustine’s has had nine parish priests during its first hundred
years, and all but our current one were born, educated and ordained
in Ireland. There have been about twenty nine curates two of which,
Fr. Spelman and Fr. Michael Kelly returned some years later to be parish
priests. They all to a greater or lesser degree contributed to the spiritual
growth and development of one of the largest parishes in Leeds and are
thought of with great affection by the many past and current parishioners.
The Priest is ‘an icon of Christ’ for the laity, who seek
his guidance and support, especially in times of sickness, bereavement
and personal distress. They feel a personal loss and sadness when it
is time for one of their priests to move on, although this never impedes
the warm welcome given to their replacement.
During most of the 20th century the parish priest appears to have been
the focal point of the parish, the Father or Shepherd of his flock,
who like a parent took not only full responsibility but made all the
decisions, rarely consulting his curates or parishioners.
St Augustine’s has been no exception and the authority of the
parish priest is rarely questioned by the laity. However many of the
curates who attained high levels of education during several years training
must have found it quite difficult serving in a parish where they were
given no clear delegated responsibilities and no awareness or foreknowledge
of decisions or changes until they occurred. The curates were allocated
a geographical area and spent much of their time visiting parishioners
in their own homes and taking Holy Communion to the sick and housebound.
The shortage of priestly vocations in recent years and an increasing
reduction in the number of priests has brought inevitable change in
the parish structure. From 1935 to 1983 St Augustine’s always had
two curates and on some occasions there were three. Since then, the
parish priest has had only one curate. Finally when the curate Fr. Gerry
Thornton left in 1999 he was not replaced.
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Fr. Michael Anthony Kelly
Fr. Kelly became the parish priest of St Augustine’s
in 1996, moving into the parish for the first week in Advent after
having a three-month sabbatical travelling around France. He set
about making changes, clearly identifying the primary role of
the priest as spiritual director and insisting that parishioners
accept responsibility for most of the organisation and practical
aspects of parish management. The presbytery has been reorganised,
the upstairs being the priest’s private quarters while the
rooms downstairs are allocated for use by parishioners as parish
office and meeting room. The front room has been converted into
an oratory.
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He is looking to the future trying to prepare the parishioners to function
as a parish in the event of having no parish priest.
LIST OF CLERGY WHO HAVE SERVED IN THE
PARISH
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Parish Priests
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From
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To
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Died
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Fr. James Coffey
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1905
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1929
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24th Nov 1929
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Fr. Patrick Leonard
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1929
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1942
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21st Dec 1942
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Fr. Charles H. O’Flaherty
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1942
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1956
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3rd July 1985
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Fr. John Adrian Craig
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1956
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1963
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3rd Dec 1963
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Fr. Michael V. O’Donavan
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1963
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1970
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29th Sept 1970
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Cannon Charles Murray
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1970
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1981
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24th Jan 1988
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Monsignor Gerard P. Spelman
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1983
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1989
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18th March 1990
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Fr. Sean Durcan
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1989
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1996
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Fr. Michael Anthony Kelly
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1996
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Curates
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From
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To
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Died
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Fr. Andrew Kelleher
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1920
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1926
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5th July 1961
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Fr. Patrick F. Scannell
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1926
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1936
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22nd Feb 1962
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Fr. Bernard Blackburn
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1935
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1936
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10th Sept 1965
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Fr. Francis Moverley
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1936
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1943
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12th Nov 1985
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Fr. Joseph Dolan
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1936
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1942
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Fr. Patrick J. Reeves
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1942
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1948
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8th August 1982
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Fr. Paul Hennelly
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1943
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1951
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29th August 1976
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Fr. Anthony Cluderay
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1948
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1951
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19th August 1989
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Fr. Eugene Daly
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1951
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1954
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24th March 1979
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Fr. Peter Walmsley
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1951
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1954
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2nd August 1998
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Fr. Bernard Battle
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1954
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1955
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Fr. Gerald P Spelman
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1955
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1960
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18th March 1990
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Fr. Edward. McSweeney
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1957
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1962
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Fr. Thomas J. Kenny
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1960
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1965
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Fr. John Tomblin
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1962
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1967
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Fr. John O’Hara
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1965
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1966
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Fr. J. Bryan Sharp
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1966
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1968
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Fr. Paul Moxon
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1967
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1968
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| Fr. Morgan |
1968 |
1970 |
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| Fr. Matthew Dwyer |
1968 |
1971 |
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| Fr. Adrian O’Connell |
1970 |
1973 |
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| Fr. Michael A. Kelly |
1971 |
1976 |
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| Fr. Kevin Griffin |
1973 |
1978 |
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| Fr. Anthony Fenton |
1976 |
1982 |
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| Fr. John F. Nunan |
1978 |
1983 |
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| Fr. Michael Hutton |
1981 |
1985 |
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| Fr. John Clarke |
1985 |
1989 |
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| Fr. Michael Wiley |
1987 |
1989 |
6th Sept 1991 |
| Fr. Nicholas Farrell |
1988 |
1991 |
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| Fr. Paul. Varey |
1991 |
1992 |
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| Fr. Christopher Willis |
1992 |
1992 |
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| Fr. David Massey |
1992 |
1994 |
8th Sept 2003 |
| Fr. Benjamin Griffiths |
1994 |
1995 |
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| Fr. Gerald Thornton |
1995 |
1999 |
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| Father
James Coffey
Fr. Coffey was appointed as the first parish priest of St Augustine’s
in July 1905. He was born in County Tipperary, and his previous
appointment was that of assistant priest at St Thomas’, Goole.
On arriving in the parish he was given a house on Roundhay Road
to live in and one of his first major tasks was securing a plot
of land to build a parish church, and negotiating with the Local
Authority for planning permission to build an extension to the
school which had only been completed in 1899.
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The church, known locally as ‘The Tin Church’ was completed
in 1908. He moved into the newly built presbytery in 1926, where after
a long illness he died on 22nd November 1929. R.I.P. He was buried in
Killingbeck cemetery.
Fr. Coffey was described as having a kindly nature and gentle unassuming
manner with a ‘pious fervour that won the hearts of his parishioners.’
| Father Patrick
Leonard
Fr. Leonard, who was born in County Meath, was the senior assistant
priest of St Patrick’s in Leeds before his appointment as
Parish Priest of St Augustine’s in 1929. After his first
Mass in the parish he announced that early in the new year he
hoped a start could be made on the building of a new church, a
project that had been delayed due to the illness of the late Fr.
Coffey. He liaised with the local Anglican church and secured
the use of their hall for Sunday Masses during the interim period
until the new church was built on the site of the old one.
Fr. Leonard died on 21st December 1942
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| Fr.
Charles H. O’Flaherty
Fr. O’Flaherty was born in Cork in 1902 and was ordained
for the Diocese of Leeds in 1930. He became Parish Priest at St
Augustine’s in 1942. He continued the fund raising efforts
of his predecessor by ensuring the church building was finally
paid for enabling the church to be consecrated in 1952.
In 1956 he was moved to the Holy Rood parish in Barnsley and
was made an Honorary Canon of the Diocese the following year.
He died in St Gabriel’s Nursing Home in Horsforth on 3rd
July 1985. R.I.P. and was subsequently buried in Killingbeck cemetery.
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He was described as being a priest who would be remembered for his
gentleness and courtesy and for his ability to counsel with wisdom and
sympathy. His generosity and kindness was evident, arranging an annual
distribution of presents and a Christmas Party in the Astoria ballroom
for all the children in the school.
| Fr.
John A. Craig
Fr. Craig was ordained in Carlow in 1933. He was appointed parish
priest to St Augustine’s in 1956 but suffered a coronary
thrombosis the same year. In 1960 he arranged for the refurbishment
of the church and around the same time there was a campaign introducing
the “Covenant Scheme” to the parish known as CHAS.
Fr. Craig died suddenly on 3rd December 1963 while he was spending
a day of recollection at Myddelton Lodge, Ilkley. He was having
lunch with his fellow priests and during conversation collapsed
and died. R.I.P.
Fr. Craig was an intensely spiritual man and a sought after confessor.
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| Fr.
Michael V. O’Donovan
Born in Waterford in 1910, Fr. O’Donovan came to Leeds following
his ordination in 1935. He became parish priest at St Augustine’s
at the beginning of 1964, and soon set to work to fulfil a great
need for adequate accommodation for meetings and social functions
by the building of the parish halls. Encouraged by Fr. O’Donovan
this enabled the social life of the parish to flourish.
In September 1970 he went to Ireland for his annual holiday and
it was there that he died suddenly on the 26th of that month.
R.I.P.
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Parishioners have very fond memories of him as he developed personal
and close relationships especially with the elderly and sick, and he
showed a tremendous kindness to anyone who approached him with a personal
problem.
| Canon
Charles J. Murray
Born in Belfast in 1912 and ordained in Carlow, his first appointment
was as a curate at St Patrick’s in Leeds in 1938. He became
renowned for his interest in providing education for the children
of the diocese after opening a Catholic primary school in Yeadon,
and after a long struggle, St Mary’s Comprehensive school
at Menston. This was barely completed when he was transferred
to St Augustine’s in 1970. The following year he was made
an Honorary Canon of the Diocese before setting off to represent
the Diocese on a short visit to Peru. He was later appointed as
the first chairman of the Peru Commission.
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During his time at St Augustine’s he had the presbytery extended,
had the church decorated and carpeted, and built the new primary school
at St Wilfred’s Circus.
In 1980 he suffered his first stroke and after his recovery in 1981
was moved to a much smaller less demanding parish. Due to ill health
he retired in 1985 and died on 24th January 1988. R.I.P.
| Monsignor
Gerard P. Spelman
Born in County Roscommon in 1930, Gerard Spelman was ordained
a priest for the Leeds Diocese in 1955 and sent to St Augustine’s
as a curate for the first five years of his ministry. In 1983
he was given a warm welcome by delighted parishioners when he
returned to St Augustine’s as parish priest after having
spent the previous six years looking after Vietnamese refugees
at Wood Hall near Wetherby. In 1989 he was transferred to St Paul’s
in Alwoodley, where only seven months later on the evening of
18th March he died suddenly. R.I.P.
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The presence of over a hundred priests and over a thousand people at
his funeral Masses at St Paul’s and St Augustine’s was the
mark of the respect in which he was held.
The many tributes paid to him after his death reflected how much he
had touched the lives of so many people. All spoke of his great patience,
kindness and above all his gentleness.
| Fr. Sean Durcan
Fr. Durcan was appointed parish priest of St Augustine’s
in the autumn of 1989. On the morning of 23rd March the following
year the school burnt down, and Fr. Durcan had to undertake the
task of organising the building of a new school which he did with
great enthusiasm.
He acquired a beautiful marble altar from Our Lady of Perpetual
Succour Church which had closed down at Seacroft and had it erected
in memory of Monsignor Spelman. The church was redecorated and
alterations were made to the halls to improve the kitchen facilities
and make the use of the halls more attractive and functional.
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He was known and loved by his parishioners for his welcoming
smile and his ability to bring light relief to a sad or solemn situation
with his unique sense of humour. He was born in Sligo and when he was
serving in the parish he never missed an opportunity to boast that he
came from the best County in Ireland! In September 1996 he was appointed
parish priest of St Joseph’s Castleford.
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