On Wednesday evening, St Peter’s Church at Stonyhurst in Lancashire was filled with a congregation of parishioners from St Wilfrid’s Church, Preston and St Peter’s, Stonyhurst, along with representatives from Manchester University Chaplaincy and members of Fr Paul Fletcher SJ’s deaf group based in Manchester.

There was even a minibus-load from our former Jesuit parish of St Francis Xavier in Liverpool. Obviously, the main reason was to celebrate the feast of St Ignatius, the founder of the Society of Jesus, however, they were also there for the presentation of the Campion Medal to Debbie Reynolds, the former pastoral associate at SFX. The Campion Medal is awarded by the British Jesuits for outstanding service by associates of the Society in Britain.

The weather behaved itself, with the church’s Victorian, stained-glass windows sparkling in the sunlight. Five Jesuit priests, including the provincial, Fr Peter Gallagher, graced the sanctuary whilst several others were scattered around the body of the kirk. Maria Hall, and her superb choir from St Wilfrid’s in Preston, accompanied the inspiring music. Readers were provided by SFX Liverpool, The Holy Name Church, Manchester, and St Peter’s, Stonyhurst.

Towards the end of the mass there was a short, appreciative account by Br Ken Vance, the British Province’s delegate for pastoral works, of Debbie’s work throughout her twenty-one years at SFX, where she organised the Baptism, Confirmation, First Holy Communion and Marriage preparation programmes, along with a myriad of social events for the parish and local community and liaised with the local Faith primary school and Notre Dame secondary school.

This was followed by a tribute by the former director of CAFOD, Julian Filochowski, who is chair of the Jesuit Fund for Social Justice, where Debbie served as secretary for well over a decade. The JFSJ is another of the works of the British Jesuits and regularly awards grants to a substantial number of social justice programmes throughout the UK. Fr Gallagher then presented Debbie with the Campion Medal, along with the accompanying booklet containing a suitably inscribed tribute to her invaluable contribution to the pastoral life of the province.

A drinks reception around the entrance to St Peter’s followed the final blessing and the evening concluding at nearby Theodore House with a sumptuous barbecue hosted by the Stonyhurst parish.