Clergy & Staff
Fr john Cross v.f.Parish Priest at St Peter's and Our Lady
Dean of Warwick Hello I'm Fr John Cross. I'm the Parish Priest which means I'm responsible to Archbishop Bernard for the administration of both St Peter's and Our Lady's Churches. It is not just the buildings but everything associated with them - most important of which is the care of souls. Thankfully I can share some of these tasks with the parish clergy and the support staff who work in the Parish Office and within the community.
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Between them St Peter's and Our Lady's have four Primary Schools which means we have a big commitment to the pastoral care of the young people of our parish. However people of all ages are cared for through the Sacraments of the Church. Being a Priest means I need to use all the gifts and talents God gave me and I am always keen to learn new ways of communicating the Good News.
I am also the Dean of Warwick Deanery. This is a great honour having been chosen by my fellow clergy and appointed to this role by Archbishop Bernard Longley. It means spending a fair amount of time being the point of liaison between the Hierarchy and the clergy. There are lots of emails, telephone conversations and personal meetings. I also care for the priests and deacons in my area of responsibility making sure they look after themselves and their parishes properly. New Parish Priests are Inducted by me on behalf of the Archbishop. I arrange and chair monthly meetings for the priests and deacons in our deanery to discuss pastoral matters. I also attend meetings on behalf of the priests of the Deanery and report back to them. The Dean takes a special interest in retired or sick clergy. In my spare time I like to take my dog for a walk, or watch the world go by. I enjoy being out in the open air and marvelling at the wonders of the seasons. I enjoy reading or listening to the radio, gardening, sketching and good company. |
Fr Benedict SkipperAssistant Priest at St Peter's and Our Lady's
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Fr Noel breslinParish Priest at St Joseph's
Fr Noel is Parish Priest at St Joseph's.
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Emma is our parish youth worker. Her desire is to see all young people come to a personal relationship with Jesus. She does this by providing opportunities for young people to grow in their faith by meeting together at events and our Youth Club which gathers each Wednesday 6.30pm during term time. UNITE Catholic Youth provision encompasses the Leamington & Warwick parishes. You can find out more at:
catholicleamington.org.uk/youth Emma is also Lay Chaplain at Trinity Catholic School. There, she runs the student Chaplaincy team, is responsible for developing Liturgies, organising Masses and the faith formation of students. Emma has a degree in Education from Warwick University and lives in Warwick with her husband, four children aged 10, 12, 14 and 16 and Charlie the chocolate Labrador. Favourite Food: Chinese and chocolate (not together!) Favourite Drink: A nice cup of tea :-) Hobbies: Tapestry and making jewellery Best thing: I give great hugs! Worst Habit: Playing on Nintendo Switch :-) Interesting Fact: I once flew a plane... |
I was born in Coventry in 1971 and attended primary school at Princethorpe. In 1981 we moved to Cork in Ireland and lived there for about 4 years, after which we moved to Lutterworth in Leicestershire. I attended secondary school there and went to university at Bangor in Wales in 1991 where I studied Theology.
In 1995 I went to the Venerable English College in Rome to train for the priesthood. I studied at the Pontifical Gregorian University and the Pontifical Biblical Institute (also the Hebrew University in Jerusalem from 2000-2001). I was ordained priest in 2002 at St Osburg’s in Coventry and served as assistant priest there and also at St Austin’s in Stafford. I was parish priest of Burntwood and chaplain to Cardinal Griffin Catholic High School in Cannock from 2007-2013. In the last few years I was Catholic chaplain at the University of Birmingham where I also teach Biblical Hebrew in the Dept. of Theology & Religion. I’ve been teaching both Greek & Hebrew at Oscott College since 2002 and, for 6 years, was part of the ongoing formation committee for clergy, responsible for the newly ordained. As well as being the Parish Priest at St Mary Immaculate, Warwick, I am the Chaplain to Trinity Catholic Secondary School. To quote Belloc: ‘Wherever the Catholic sun doth shine, there’s always laughter and good red wine. At least I’ve always found it so. Benedicamus Domino!’ |
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ROYCE McPARLANDParish Office
Royce is the finance administrator for St Peter's and Our Lady's. He assists Fr John with matters relating to site maintenance at both churches.
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