Cambridge University chapel is blessed

Archbishop of Westminster blesses chaplaincy chapel at Cambridge that has undergone half a million pounds worth of building work

Archbishop Vincent Nichols of Westminster blessed the new chapel at Cambridge University Catholic chaplaincy on Sunday October 30 at the 11am Mass.

The Chaplaincy building, also known as Fisher House, has undergone £500,000 of building work.

The building project has turned the hall into a permanent chapel. The chaplaincy now also benefits from a larger and more user-friendly assembly and events room, a refurbished library, a large kitchen for functions and access for disabled students.

Currently 450 people, both junior and senior members of the university, regularly attend Mass at Fisher House.

In his homily Archbishop Nichols said: “The readings from today’s Gospel serve as a warning to us all and remind us that respect for God and his ways requires a certain humility and purity of heart, which is often lost to self-interest. To attain such purity of heart more than introspection and inner growth are required, for such purity is the work of the Holy Spirit. Today we give thanks for this church, centred on this beautiful figure of Christ, the life-giving Word, for the Church is the sure place of the action of God through the Holy Spirit.”

Addressing the congregation after Mass Fr Alban McCoy, Catholic chaplain to the university, said: “The primary point and purpose of this occasion is to thank God. This new, permanent chapel and much improved chaplaincy are the fruit of hard work, dedication and vision on the part of many in the past.”