John Arendzen – 1900-1903 |
Bernard Nesden – 1970-1977 |
Constantine Ketterer – 1903-1909 |
John Drury – 1977-1981 |
James Purcell – 1909-1942 |
Raymond Kerby – 1981-2001 |
Ethelbert Payne – 1942-1950 |
Paul Maddison – 2001-Present |
Stephen Doupe – 1950-1970 |
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The Second Vatican Council restored the diaconate as a proper and permanent rank of the hierarchy. This 'Permanent Diaconate' is, unlike the priesthood, open to married men; it has importantly enriched the life and mission of Christ's Church. Deacons of this parish: |
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Father John Arendzen John Peter Arendzen was born in Haarlem, Amsterdam on January 6th 1873. He was educated by the Christian Brothers in Amsterdam and then at Hageveld College in Leyden. He then seems to have pursued a brilliant academic career as well as being a much respected priest. He commenced his theological studies at St Thomas' Seminary in Hammersmith, London and then went on to Oscott, from where he was ordained in 1895. He also gained a PhD at Bonn University and a DD at Munich, and continued to study at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he obtained a BA in 1901 and MA in 1906. During this period of study at Cambridge, he was assigned to the St Ives parish as a member of the Catholic Missionary Society. The first entry in the baptismal register is in September 1900, so it seems likely that he began his ministry in the town at that time. His abilities in the pulpit were such that he was included among the “Preachers of the Century” by the Daily Mail. He left St Ives in 1903 and was appointed to the staff of St. Edmunds College, Ware, where he taught until 1949. His final years were spent in Kilburn, North London where he died in July 1954. |
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Fr Constantine Ketterer Constantine was born on the 31st December 1878 in St Albans. He trained at the Shefford Seminary of St Thomas Aquinas, the Northampton Diocesan Seminary, and was ordained by Bishop Riddell in Northampton Cathedral in 1903. He came to St Ives in this year as his first posting. The church was not really equipped for a resident priest, and only the first floor of the sacristy was available as a presbytery. This tiny room, no more than 10 feet square, contained a washbasin, a fireplace and chimney and a pullout bed. Fr Ketterer lived here until the summer of 1906, when the present presbytery was built, adjoining the church. In May 1908, Fr Ketterer left St Ives to take up a post as a private chaplain to the Squire of Great Billing. He was also the parish priest at Our Lady of Pity at Swaffham, and at St Etheldreda's, Ely, where he stayed until his death in 1940. |
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Fr J P Purcell James Patrick Purcell was born at 62 Longfellow Rd, Mile End, London, on 1st November 1873. He was educated at St Mary's College, Dundalk, Ireland, and St Thomas's Seminary in Shefford; being ordained by Bishop Riddell in Northampton Cathedral in 1901. He came to St Ives in 1909, having been a curate in Marlow and Daventry parishes. Catherine Bridgeman was his housekeeper for many years, and she also played the harmonium during Mass with her lap dog sitting on a cushion on top of the instrument. He served the St Ives parish for 33 years, until his death in June 1942. His Requiem Mass was attended by over 20 clergy from many parishes. He is buried in the borough cemetery in North Street, and on his gravestone it reads: “The first Catholic priest to be buried in St Ives since the Reformation.” His obituary in the Hunts. Post said that: “He found his recreation in painting and was known to be an artist of great distinct merit. Although he took no part in public affairs, no one looked to him for help in vain. His generosity and devotion to his church were marked to a degree, and many in St Ives and the surrounding district will mourn the passing of his sympathetic personality” |
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Fr E A Payne Ethelbert Aloysius Payne was born in Northampton on August 16th 1903. He studied for the priesthood at Osterly from 1926 to 1928 and at Valladolid from 1928 to 1929, completing his training at Oscott. His ordination took place on the 27th May 1934 at Northampton Cathedral by Bishop Laurence Youens. He was assistant priest at All Souls Peterborough for 8 years before coming to St Ives in September 1942. Fr Payne's love of music was demonstrated by a large collection of classical music records. Mrs Dorothy Barton, who came to the parish in 1948, remembers that on Thursdays, he would hold musical evenings, charging a shilling a record to raise money for the church. In 1950 he was transferred to Wellingborough where he remained until his death in 1967 on the Isle of Wight, while on holiday. |
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Fr Stephen J Doupe Stephen Patrick Doupe was born on the 11th May 1905 in Askeaton Co. Limerick,Ireland. At the age of 15, he went to Copeswood College in County Limerick to prepare for the priesthood. A year later he came to the Salesian College, in Cowley, Oxford where he spent another four years. He studied theology at Blaisdon Park, Gloucester and the Beda College in Rome and continued his studies over the next 20 years whilst teaching in a number of places. He was ordained at Oscott in June 1941 and became parish priest at St Ives in 1950. The parish was still quite small, with 24 being considered a good attendance at Sunday Mass. Due to lack of funds, parishioners were invited to pay a “pew rent” of ten shillings a year towards the upkeep of the church and for this they had their own pew with their name on it. The parish also received “Universe” Christmas parcels, distributed to poor parishes, and raised funds by sports days, jumble sales and lotteries. The church could not afford to buy much needed pews but Fr Doupe went with Mr Sanderson in his minibus to a redundant church in Northampton and collected two pews, free of charge. During his time in the parish Fr Doupe initiated the building of the church of St Francis of Assisi at Papworth and this was opened in 1953 (but closed in 2007). He retired from the parish in June 1970, but died very suddenly in August 1972. The final word comes from the Northampton Diocesan newspaper's obituary: “As a young man, his main love outside his parish duties was fishing. He loved to wrap himself in his fishing 'uniform' and fish off the pier at Felixstowe or Cromer, and experience the excitement of a big catch with the wind blowing in his face and the sea crashing below him…….” |
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Fr Bernard Nesden Bernard Nesden was born in Brighouse in the West Riding of Yorkshire, and was educated at St Bede's Grammar School, Bradford. He started work at the Town Hall in Brighouse but at the outbreak of war he joined the Royal Air Force and spent the next 5 years in Signals. He was a 'late vocation' and studied for the priesthood at the Beda College, where he was ordained at St Paul's outside the Walls on 30th March 1963. He was an assistant priest in Luton and Aylesbury before coming to St Ives in June 1970. Fr Bernard kept a parish log book which noted he celebrated Mass in the parish church at Over with a congregation of 100 in April 1971 and 2 years later in Fenstanton parish church for 80 people. This ecumenical association was to continue and grow to include regular monthly Masses in other villages in the parish. In March 1976 St Ives became part of the newly created diocese of East Anglia and on June 2nd Right Rev. Alan Clark was installed as the first Bishop of the Diocese. The following year the Sacred Heart Church celebrated its 75th anniversary with Mass followed by a luncheon in Slepe Hall. Later that year Fr Bernard left the parish to become the Parish Priest at St Mary's, Ipswich. He subsequently moved to Hunstanton before he retired in 1995, and then moved to Norwich, where he died in July 1999. |
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Fr John Patrick Drury John Drury studied for the priesthood at Oscott College and was ordained on the 22nd February 1964. He was an assistant priest at the Cathedral in Northampton until 1970 when he moved to St Laurence's, Cambridge. He became the Parish priest there in 1972 and came to St Ives in 1977. In 1979 the Knights of St Columba became a Council in their own right and a Confraternity of the St Vincent de Paul Society was introduced into the parish at this time. In May 1980 the church held a Mission for the first time in 30 years. This was conducted by Fr Barrie O'Toole and Fr Ian McKay of the Redemptorist Fathers, who undertook the mammoth task of visiting all the homes in the parish - over 850 of them! During the week of the Mission, Mass was said every day at 6.30am for the “early birds” and at 10am. Even the newspapers reported the fact that after the early Mass each day residents whose homes overlooked Warners Park were treated to the sight of the three reverend gentlemen going for an early morning jog! In September 1981 Fr John left the parish and joined the Missionary Society of St James the Apostle, being the first priest from the Diocese of East Anglia to do so. He spent five years in Peru and Bolivia. While he was in Talara, Peru, his work was supported by a fundraising committee in St Ives who received support from all the churches in the town, the schools and many of the businesses. The greatest need in Talara was to build fishing boats, and the first boat was named St Ivo in recognition of all the financial and prayer support from the town. On his return from South America, he was Parish priest at St Edmunds in Bury, before becoming the Administrator of the Cathedral of St John in Norwich. In 1987, he was appointed Vicar General in the Diocese. Since 1997 he was on loan again to the Society of St James and served the mission in Duran, Ecuador. He subsequently retired from the mission field and went to serve a small parish in Ireland. He died, only a few days after he completely retired, in 2005. |
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Fr Raymond Henry Kerby Raymond Kerby was born in Ipswich and educated at St Joseph's College. He attended Queen Mary's and King's Colleges at the University of London, and finally trained as a teacher at the University of London's Institute of Education. He was in the Army for 3 years and then taught in Berlin an in his old school, St Joseph's, before being called to the priesthood. He studied at the Beda College in Rome and was ordained at St John Lateran on 7th April 1962. He was a curate at Northampton, Cambridge, Norwich and Luton, and Parish priest in Hadleigh and Haverhill before coming to St Ives in September 1981. It was suggested by the Town Council in 1984 that the medieval Bridge Chapel be used for the purpose for which it was built. So Fr Kerby approached the Bridge Chapel Committee for permission to celebrate Mass there on Monday mornings at 10am. This was granted and every Monday during the summer months, Mass is extremely well attended in this beautiful location. Often there is standing room only. The parish always looked forward to hearing about his travels around the world, as he has driven many thousand of miles across Europe as far as the Baltic States, Ukraine, Rumania, and Poland. He also visited Southern India in January 1997 to be present at the blessing of the Church of Our Lady near Kerala, which had been built mainly through the fund raising efforts of the parish. Fr Ray's unassuming manner hides a twinkling sense of humour, an educated mind, and a love of music. When he retired in July 2001, he had consolidated the efforts of all his predecessors to build a strong and devoted community. The building of the parish hall which he had longed and saved for during his 20 years in St Ives began on the day he retired. Fr Kerby is now living in Chatteris, but still travelling the world! |
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