A Catholic School Tradgedy - Corpus Christi Catholic College

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2014

CATHOLIC SCHOOL TRAGEDY

Mrs  Ann Maguire
© Copyright Peter Crawford 2014

Corpus Christi Catholic College - Leeds

It is with deep regret that we must record the tragic death of Mrs  Ann Maguire, allegedly at the hands of one of her pupils, a boy of fifteen years - Tuesday 29 April 2014.
Naturally all reasonable people would offer their deepest sympathy to the friends and family of Mrs Ann Maguire, who was a long serving member of the teaching staff at the Corpus Christi Catholic College in Leeds.
Considering the unfortunate position of Catholic Education in England at present, this is a tragedy that the Catholic Church in England could well do without, however, it is immediately evident that a thorough 'cover-up' of the nature of this event is already under-way.

Corpus Christi Catholic College

School Prayer

  

Today, as we WORK together,

we ask you:

Be with us, Lord

Today, as we LEARN together,

we ask you:

Be with us Lord

Today, as we PRAY together,

we ask you:

Be with us Lord

Today, as we GROW together,

we ask you:

Be with us Lord

Today as we live our MISSION,

we ask you

Be with us Lord

Amen

Corpus Christi Catholic College is a secondary school located in Halton Moor, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
The school currently has a roll of around 900 to 1,000 pupils.
Around 50% of pupils achieve 5 A-C grades at GCSE.
In September 2001 Corpus Christi became the first Inner City Leeds High School to gain Specialist School status when it became a Technology College.
In 2005 the school became a member of the Specialist Schools Most Improved Schools’ Club for the second occasion.
It was awarded a School Achievement Award in 2003 and a recognition for the Healthy Schools Scheme.

Corpus Christi Roman Catholic Church - Leeds

In November 2006 the school was rated as overall Grade 2 (Good) by Ofsted, while, the same month, awarding it Grade 1 (Outstanding).
The school rewards its pupils with monetary Attendance Draws for pupils with high attendance; 'Going for Gold' and punctuality certificates; and house points and credits with vouchers and certificates.
Between 2009 and 2013, with funds from the UK Government and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds, the school was refurbished and modernised.
Corpus Christi Catholic College feeder primary schools are Corpus Christi Catholic Primary School, St Theresa's Roman Catholic Primary School, St Gregory's Catholic Primary School, Our Lady's Catholic Primary School and St Nicholas' Catholic Primary School.
Like many other Roman catholic school, which call themselves academies or colleges, it is significant that this school has adopted the term 'college', presumably to raise its status.

Mrs Maguire's death, after more than 40 years' teaching at the school, is thought to be the first time a teacher has been stabbed to death in a British classroom, and the first killing of a teacher in a school since the 1996 Dunblane massacre.
Mrs Maguire, who was 61 years old, had reduced her teaching load to four days a week, and was due to retire in September.
While every attempt has been made to indicate that this appalling event was not typical of the part of Leeds in which the school is to be found, it is interesting to note that the very first television news report of the incident stated that the school was to be found in a 'rough area'.
Many pupils and parents described Mrs Maguire as “the school’s mother”.
It appears the Mrs Maguire had joined the school straight after university, and had devoted her life to the welfare of pupils, staying in touch with many long after they had left.

So what went wrong ?
Well, although many pupils and parents have said that everyone liked - even loved - Mrs Maguire, that is undoubtedly the hyperbole that so often follows a tragic event.
Logically, it is highly unlikely that in a school of between 900 to 1000 pupils everyone liked Mrs Maguire, or any of the other teachers for that matter.
And obviously, at least one pupil had very little liking for Mrs Maguire.
But why didn't anyone spot that 'supposedly' one, disgruntled pupil ?
It seems that Corpus Christi suffers from the same, politically correct, liberal agenda that afflicts, not only most schools, whether Catholic or otherwise, but also most public institutions in England.
It has been stated that Corpus Christi had a 'staff leadership team' and a 'pastoral team', and it is notable that little or no mention has been made of the head and/or deputy head teacher.
'Teams', of course, allow for the 'spreading' of responsibility', to the extent that no one is actually responsible for anything or anyone.
This has been seen in numerous recent scandals - in particular those related to hospitals and social services.
So what about the disgruntled fifteen year old ?

It has been reported that the, as yet, unnamed boy accused of stabbing to death Mrs Maguire chose to sit alone in lessons.
The teenager has also been described as a depressed introvert, who spent long periods on-line playing video games.
In addition, the boy used a drawing of the 'Death - the Grim Reaper' as the banner on his Facebook page.
His profiles on Google+ and YouTube also revealed his keen interest in 'Dark Souls' - a video game .
The middle-class teenager, who loved heavy metal music, was heard to say that he felt he was an ‘outcast’, and would isolate himself in school.
It has also been suggested that he was very bright, and was in the top sets for everything.
Apparently the boy had previously threatened to commit suicide after complaining of bullying, and it has been reported that he had experimented with drugs.
Neighbours have also stated that he would not make eye contact with them, or acknowledge their greetings as he walked past. 
The boy's mother – a human resources manager who separated from his father, a council executive, a decade ago – had always seemed a responsible, attentive parent.
Undoubtedly the boy was a 'loner', who did well in all subjects apart from Spanish and, of course, his Spanish teacher was Mrs Maguire.
Significantly,  other pupils stated that he had seemed increasingly troubled in  recent months.
It has also been reported that he was apparently suicidal, and had tried to kill himself several times. 
In addition, the boy often went into school carrying 'Jack Daniels' and beer, and he was a considered to be a ‘goth’ by his contemporaries.
And most significantly, the boy told classmates he had a knife, and allegedly warned he was planning to attack Mrs Maguire because she “was giving him grief”, and had boasted the week before the killing he would kill Mrs Maguire – but no one took him seriously.
And did any of the pupils who knew the boy's boasts tell any of the staff (and in particular Mr C Fletcher who is the CL PE, Inclusion Leader, E-Safety Officer, Designated Child Protection Officer - or Mrs J Howard - CL Health & Social Care, ICT & Year Leader - or the Lay Chaplain
Miss M Scahill) - and if not, why not ?
And if the staff were not told, then it implies that the pupils saw little point in telling the staff, which puts into question the professional abilities of the said staff.
But if the staff were told, then what action was taken by the staff to deal effectively with the problem ?
These questions, of course, will probably never be answered adequately.
Now in this tragic case there were enough warning signs here for even the most un-perceptive adult to see that there was a real, and serious problem.
But the ludicrously well-paid, 'team members' on the staff, who were supposed to be running the school, were obviously too busy with their clipboards, schedules, i-pads and other paraphernalia to notice a real boy in real pain - or to realise that a serious problem had developed between one of the pupils and a particular member of staff.
And although it may seem like sacrilege, we must also wonder if Mrs Maguire was really as nice to everybody, as it is now claimed.

So what's to be done ?
Simples !
Actually see pupils as they really are - easily said - hard to do - but it would help many, and even save some lives.
And ensure that teachers are truly responsible, and not hiding behind endless 'politically-correct' jargon.
Such 'jargon' revolves around such concepts as 'community', 'inclusiveness', 'teams', 'caring', 'responsibility' and 'respect'.
Such aims or ideals are all very well - but simply saying them, or including them in a so-called 'mission statement' will not create a good and safe institution, or protect staff and pupils from the possible tragedies that may occur in the everyday life of a typical school.

to be continued

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2014

Metropolitan Cathedral of St. George - Southwark

© Copyright Peter Crawford 2014

St George's Cathedral, Southwark, is a Roman Catholic cathedral in the Archdiocese of Southwark, south London, England.

The Cathedral is the Mother Church of the Roman Catholic Province of Southwark which covers the Archdiocese of Southwark (all of London south of the River Thames including Kent and north Surrey) and the Dioceses of Arundel and Brighton, Portsmouth, and Plymouth.
It is the Metropolitan Cathedral of the Archbishop of Southwark.

HISTORY

The Catholic Relief Act of 1778 brought a certain limited freedom to Roman Catholics.

Priests no longer moved in fear of imprisonment and Catholics could run their own schools and could once more acquire property.

In 1786 there was only one Catholic chapel in the whole of south London, located at Bermondsey.

It was then that Fr Thomas Walsh, a Douai priest, for £20 a year hired a room in Bandyleg Walk (near where the Southwark fire station now stands).

Within two years, the numbers attending the little chapel had increased, and new building became essential.

In 1793 a large chapel dedicated to 'St George' was opened in the London Road at a cost of £2,000.

It was designed by James Taylor of Weybridge, Surrey.

It was here that the first High Mass was celebrated in London, outside the chapels of ambassadors, since the time of James II.

Fr Thomas Doyle came to St George's in 1820, when the congregation stood at around 7,000. 

He became the First Chaplain in 1829.

In the same year, the Catholic Emancipation Act removed nearly all the legal disabilities which Catholics had suffered for 250 years.

As Fr Doyle's congregation increased (to 15,000 by 1829), the idea grew in his mind of a great church, with the dimensions of a long and lofty cathedral.

By 1839, enough money had been collected to make a start, and the present site in St George's Fields (then an open space) was purchased for £3,200.

Bishop Wiseman 

A.W.N. Pugin

A.W.N. Pugin, the Gothic revival architect, was commissioned to design the church. 
Unfortunately, lack of funds prevented the committee from accepting his first design of a cruciform cathedral on a grand scale, and less ambitious plans had to be prepared.
Work began at on the old cathedral in 1840, the foundation stone being laid on 8 September.
The church was solemnly opened by Bishop Nicholas Wiseman (later Cardinal Wiseman) on 4 July 1848.

Pope Pius IX

Two years later Pope Pius IX restored the English hierarchy, and St George's was chosen as the Cathedral Church of the new Diocese of Southwark, which was to cover the whole of Southern England.

Pugin's Design

For the next half-century, until the opening of Westminster Cathedral, St George's was the centre of Catholic life in London.
Thomas Grant was made the first Bishop of Southwark; Fr Doyle became the Provost and Administrator, and remained so until his death on 6 June 1879.
The new cathedral was consecrated by Bishop Butt on 7 November 1894.

On 16 April 1941, during a massive air-raid on London during World War 11, an incendiary bomb set light to the roof, and in minutes the cathedral was ablaze from end to end, to become the next day a smouldering ruin.
In some ways, this was not such as tragedy as may be imagined.
The quality of construction in Pugin's buildings was often poor, and he was lacking in technical knowledge, his strength lying more in his facility as a designer of architectural detail.
While his influence was great, and he inspired such inividuals as W. E. Nesfield, Norman Shaw, George Gilbert Scott, William Butterfield and George Edmund Street, his designs were mechanical and repetitive, and his use of colour lacking in refinement.

Most of his effects were obtained by an overwhelming abundance of ornament, much of it, on closer examination, being uninspired and hackneyed.
For some years the Amigo Hall became the pro-cathedral.

In the early 1950s, under Bishop Cowderoy and Administrator Fr Bernard Bogan, plans for a new cathedral were completed.

Romilly Bernard Craze was chosen as the architect.

Cathedral of St. George - Southwark

Romilly Bernard Craze (1892–1974). English ecclesiastical architect. It is perhaps unfortunate that much of his output consists of replacements of or draconian repairs to churches destroyed or damaged during the 1939–45 war. Among his works St Luke, Farnborough Way, Camberwell (1953–4), St Cuthbert, Watford Road, Wembley (1958–9), St Thomas, Kensal Road, Kensington (1967), and All Saints, Waltham Avenue, Kingsbury (1954), may be cited. He carried out many re-orderings of churches in the Diocese of London, rebuilt (1953–63) Pugin's RC Cathedral of St George, Southwark (erected 1841–8), on the original plan, with details in a superb Arts-and-Crafts Free Gothic, and carried out repairs to numerous churches, including White's All Saints, Talbot Road, Notting Hill (1949–51), and Keeling's St George, Aubrey Walk, Kensington (1947–9). His Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham, Norfolk (1931–7), however, is vaguely Italianate, but the interior is spatially complex for such a small building, and contains a fine reredos by Comper. The land on which the Shrine was built was donated by Sir William Frederick Victor Mordaunt Milner, 8th Baronet (1896–1960), who was Craze's professional partner in the architectural firm of Milner & Craze from 1931.

It was only when restoration work commenced in 1953 that the full extent of the fire damage became apparent.

Only a few parts of the original building were sound enough to be incorporated in the reconstructed cathedral.

In the reconstruction, a clerestory over the nave was introduced, vastly improving the lighting of the new building.

On 4 July 1958 the new building was solemnly opened by Bishop Cowderoy.

The Lady Chapel was added in 1963 and the Baptistry in 1966. Click here for a plan of the new cathedral.

THE CATHEDRAL

 Cathedral of St. George - Nave and Sanctuary

There is a refreshing and refined, yet noble simplicity about the design by Romilly Craze - which is in many ways the very opposite of the fussy, over-ornate design of the original cathedral.
The white stone used for the interior is Cotswold limestone from Painsivick, Gloucestershire.
The wooden panels of the nave ceiling are painted with emblems depicting the story of man's redemption by Christ.

Along the walls of the north aisle are the 14 Stations of the Cross, telling the story of Christ's sufferings, from his condemnation by Pilate to his burial in the tomb.

These tablets were carved by H.J. Youngman.

The originals are in the National Museum of Wales.

At the east end of the north aisle is the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, a survival from Pugin's original church.

Cathedral of St. George  - Knill Chantry

The Knill Chantry is situated towards the cast end of the north aisle near the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.
Chantries are found in many cathedrals.
They are chapels or altars endowed for the offering of Masses in perpetuity for the repose of the souls of their founders and their families.
The money for the Knill Chantry was given by John Knill, later Sir John and Lord Mayor of London, one of a London business family who supported the cathedral for many years.
The chantry was designed in 1856 by Edward Pugin, son of A.W.N. Pugin, whose marriage to Miss Jane Knill was the first to be solemnised in the new cathedral.

Cathedral of St. George - Blessed Sacrament Chapel

The Blessed Sacrament Chapel, with its wrought-iron gates, is a part of Pugin's original building that survived the bombing in 1941.
The Pugin traces can still be seen in the gilt capitals capping the columned arches, and the subdued harmonious hues.
The tabernacle, flanked by two arched and gabled recesses, contains the Blessed Sacrament reserved for private devotions.
The original Pugin high altar was against the back wall, denoted by the golden panels of the ceiling.
The 1958 high altar, which was slightly forward, encased the remnants of the frontispiece of the Pugin 1848 altar, now re-assembled in St Joseph's Chapel.

Cathedral of St. George
Interior

The present sanctuary was reordered in 1989 to emphasise the three focal points of the Liturgy: the ambo, from which the word of God is proclaimed, the altar and the cathedra - the Bishop's chair.
The marble floor came from the same Purbeck quarry in Dorset as that used for the 1958 rebuilding.
0n the wall at the south side of chancel arch is the striking modern statue of St George, patron saint of England and titular saint of the cathedral.
Like the Stations of the Cross, it is the work of H.J. Youngman.
Nearby in the south-cast corner of the nave, a triple arch, one of the architectural features of the new cathedral, surrounds the Petre Chantry, a perfect Gothic gem, where is buried the Hon. Edward Petre, who gave considerable financial help towards the original costs of the cathedral.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic archdiocese in England.

The archepiscopal see is St. George's Cathedral, Southwark and is headed by the Archbishop of Southwark.

The archdiocese is part of the Metropolitan Province of Southwark, which covers the South of England.

Southwark was one of the dioceses established at the restoration of Catholic hierarchical structures in 1851 by Pope Pius IX.

The areas which now comprise the Diocese of Portsmouth and the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton subsequently separated.

Archbishop Kevin McDonald

Archbishop Peter Smith

As of 10 June 2010, the current archbishop is Peter Smith.

His predecessor, Kevin McDonald, led the archdiocese until 4 December 2009, when he submitted his resignation in keeping with canon law which provides for the retirement of a diocesan bishop on grounds of ill health or for other grave reasons.

There are three auxiliary bishops: John Hine, titular Bishop of Beverley, Patrick Lynch SS.CC., titular bishop of Castrum and Paul Hendricks, titular Bishop of Ross and Cromarty.

These bishops have particular pastoral responsibility in Kent, South East London and South West London respectively