Jubilarians' 450 years of service

From the Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth
The Jesuit community in Boscombe, Bournemouth, is celebrating a total of 450 years of service to the Church clocked up by priests and brothers in the Corpus Christi community.

The celebration, which was organised by the parish of Corpus Christi, was originally intended to mark the 50th anniversary of their Parish Priest, Fr Denis Blackledge SJ, becoming a Jesuit, but it was expanded to include all of the anniversaries of the Jesuit priests and brothers in Bournemouth.

A total of 450 years of service to the Church around the world was marked by a special Mass of thanksgiving, celebrated by the local Superior, Fr Chris Dyckhoff SJ.  A packed church heard the homily by Fr Denis, when he recalled that from the earliest age, he had been called to be a priest, and throughout his ministry, he had been supported by his family, by his Jesuit confreres, by his many friends and in recent years, by the wonderful parish of Corpus Christi.


The photo on the left shows the following Jesuits with their respective anniversaries in brackets:

Back l to r: Bro James Harkess [50], Fr David Gornall [50], Fr Peter Hackett, Fr Denis Blackledge [50], Bro Bill Jordan [50], Fr Chris Dyckhoff [Superior]
Sat behind table l to r: Fr Robert Murray, Fr Bill MacCurtain, Bro Norman Smith [50] [Wing Commander, Battle of Britain pilot, aged 93], Fr Clarence Gallagher
Front to right of table: Fr Patrick Purnell [70], Fr Derrick Maitland [60], Fr Ian Brayley

The only Jubilarian missing from the photo is Fr Michael Flannery [70].