The Church of today (2023)
Worship in St Pius is reverential and peaceful. The emphasis is on simplicity and humility in seeking to follow the teachings of Jesus and to receive His grace in our lives. Pastoral care is always available for those in need. There has been a Parish Priest in Alderley Edge since 1946 – see list below. From 2010 St Pius’ Parish Priest has been Fr Mathew Thomas. He is well supported by a number of volunteer parishioners in the running of the parish activities, organising Church services and the maintenance of the parish, both structurally and generally. The parish charity, Xspand, operated for over 30 years, before closing in 2023. During that time it raised nearly £1m for various charities, in particular the St. Joseph’s Sisters of Peru. St Pius welcomes all parishioners who wish to join its parish life for the greater glory of our Lord. May God continue to bless this holy place just a few minutes’ walk from the centre of Alderley Edge.
Origins 1942-1954
As far as we know the first Mass in the Alderley Edge area since the Reformation took place in Ryleys Lane in 1942 when the Sisters of St Joseph of the Apparition bought a house there to serve as a convent for the training of postulants and novices. Convent Mass was said by the Salvatorian Fathers, based in Macclesfield. Soon a few local Catholics began attending the Mass. After the war Father John Irish asked a recently discharged soldier, Arthur Boyce, to help start a parish and to prepare children at Soss Moss school for Holy Communion and Confirmation. Regular Mass attendance was now about twenty and Fr. Irish contacted Bishop Moriarty who came to Alderley to consider the need for a new parish. He said that there would need to be a guaranteed 50-100 parishioners. Three main factors combined to make this possible. First, the number of Irish nurses at the Mary Dandy and David Lewis Centres; secondly, the building of a small council estate and thirdly the founding by the Sisters of Mount Carmel School in 1945. As Mass numbers exceeded those who could attend in the convent chapel, Mr Boyce eventually obtained the consent of the Order to open a Mass centre in a room at the back of the school.
First Church 1954-1968
A former schoolhouse was bought in Stamford Road and converted into a Catholic Church, despite much local opposition. On 29th October 1954 the Church, named after St Pius X, was opened and consecrated by Bishop Murphy of Shrewsbury. The first parish priest was Fr John Kind, followed in 1959 by Fr Fenlon. In that year Stamford House was bought as the presbytery and Fr Fenlon was able to move there in 1961, having previously lived in the converted gardener’s store at the Ryleys Lane convent.
Present Church 1968
The first Church gradually needed replacing and a new Church was built on the orchard adjoining Stamford House. A plaque, visible in the wall to the left of the altar, records:
D.O.M. Henricus Kelly Praepositus Capituli Salopien Primarium Lapidem In Hon S Pii Papae X sacravit Die 25A Maii 1968. [Dom Henry Kelly, the Prefect of the Salopian Chapter consecrated the Primary Stone in Honour of Pope Pius X on May 25th, 1968.] Bishop Grasar carried out the official opening in 1969. The architect was Frank Reynolds of Reynolds & Scott. It has been said[1] that the canopy above the altar is unusual and of some interest and artistic merit, “being M-shaped with a spiky skeletal appearance in the manner of ribs. It is a design of some note in a building otherwise furnished in a very simple unostentatious manner.” The first Church became the Church Hall in the 1970s and is still in use as such, having been refurbished in 2018.
Finally
In the words of Pope Francis:
“What can we do together, as Church, to make the world in which we live more humane, just and filled with solidarity, more open to God and to fraternity among men? ….Together we can and must continue to care for human life, the protection of creation, the dignity of work, the problems of families, the treatment of the elderly and all those who are abandoned, rejected or treated with contempt….In a word, we are called to be a Church that promotes the culture of care, tenderness and compassion towards the vulnerable…. This word of the Lord should continue to echo in our hearts and minds: In the Church there is a place for everyone.”
List of Alderley Edge Parish Priests
Joseph Irish 1946-1948
Bernard Houghton 1948-1952
Ivor J Kind 1952-1959
Benedict Fenlon 1959-1969
James Lowery 1969-1974
H Albert Knight 1974-1982
David A Smith 1982-1989
John F McHugh 1989-1993
John Burgon 1993-2002
David Peters 2002-2010
Mathew Thomas 2010-
[1] Taking Stock – Catholic Churches of England & Wales