It is with sad news we announce of the death on 17 March of Canon Bernard Ronald Scholes who died peacefully at St Anne’s Care Home in Stoke Newington where he had received excellent care, then palliative care as he prepared for God’s call to heaven. Members of his family and Sr Mary Benedicta LSP were with him.
Canon Bernard was born in Isleworth on 9 August 1936 and was ordained in Westminster Cathedral on 11 June 1960.
Condolences are extended to Canon Bernard’s family, friends and colleagues and to Sr Caroline Mary LSP and the other Sisters, staff and residents at St Anne’s.
Canon Bernard’s mortal remains will be received at the church of Holy Rood, Exchange Road, Watford WD18 0PJ at 5pm on Monday 28 April. There will be a Requiem Mass at 7pm with Bishop Paul McAleenan presiding and Canon Norbert Fernandes giving the homily.
The Funeral Mass will be on Tuesday 29 April at 12noon at the church of Our Lady and St Joseph, Uxbridge Road, Hanwell W7 3SU with the Cardinal presiding and Fr Richard Nesbitt giving the homily. Burial will follow at New Brentford Cemetery at 1.45pm.
We pray for the peaceful repose of Fr Canon Bernard’s soul:
Hear with favour our prayers,
which we humbly offer, O Lord,
for the salvation of the soul of Canon Bernard your servant and priest,
that he, who devoted a faithful ministry to your name,
may rejoice in the perpetual company of your saints.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
God, for ever and ever.
Amen.
Yesterday’s Psalm response at Mass, and the fourth verse, could have been written by Canon Bernard who always placed his trust in the Lord:
The Lord is my light and my salvation.
I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness
in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord, be strong,
be stout-hearted and wait for the Lord!
May the soul of Canon Bernard, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Amen.
Obituary
Canon Bernard Scholes – Fr Bernard to all who knew him – will be remembered for his enthusiasm and energy for priestly ministry throughout the sixty-four years that he served as a priest of the Diocese of Westminster.
Together with his twin brother Bernard Scholes was the youngest of seven children born to Valentine and Winifred Scholes. He was born in Hounslow on 9 August 1936. He was baptised at St Michael and St Martin in Hounslow and confirmed in the same church on 14 May 1944. He was educated at Hounslow Primary School from 1941-47. In 1944 at the height of World War II he and his twin brother, Andrew, were evacuated for five months to a convent in a mining village in Durham. In 1948 the twins won scholarships to St Benedict’s, Ealing where they remained until 1954. It was in 1954 that Bernard applied for acceptance as a student for the priesthood. His application was successful, supported by his Parish Priest who had known him since birth. From an early age Bernard and his four brothers had been altar servers at Hounslow. Bernard had made known his sense of vocation to the priesthood at the age of fourteen. His parents were regarded as ‘excellent’ Catholics by their Parish Priest, and the young Bernard as ‘a serious minded boy’. He worked hard at school and was a good all-rounder who also enjoyed rugby, playing for the First XV as an excellent scrum half. By the time Bernard left St Benedict’s School he knew sufficient Latin for acceptance by the seminary, and he had also learned Greek. He started formation for the priesthood at St Edmund’s College, Ware in Hertfordshire in September 1954. This enabled him to be exempt from National Service for which he had registered at the local office of the Ministry of Labour and National Service in Harlesden. In the summer of 1954 the Scholes family moved from Hounslow to Herne Bay in Kent where they attended Mass locally with the Passionist Fathers.
As a seminarian Bernard was described in regular reports by the President of the College as a very good student with a high degree of ability and with the potential for further studies after ordination. His character was described as ‘steady and reliable’. He was ordained to the diaconate in September 1959 and to the priesthood on 11 June 1960 at Westminster Cathedral by Cardinal Godfrey. Before ordination, Bernard was aware of the Cardinal’s desire that he undertakes further studies in Cambridge to prepare for work as a teacher-priest. From 1960-61 he studied Advanced Level History at Cambridge Technical College. He then studied for a B.A. in History at Christ’s College from 1961-64. While in Cambridge he lived at St Edmund’s House. On his return to the Diocese Fr Bernard worked as a part-time assistant teacher at Chelsea Secondary School teaching English, History and Games while serving as Assistant Priest at the former parish of St Matthias, Broadfields (Edgware) where he remained for four years. His next teaching post, at Archway School teaching History and Games, commenced in 1965. He progressed from assistant teacher to senior teacher then head of year before moving on from the school in 1980. During his years at Archway School Fr Bernard continued to live at Broadfields before moving to independent accommodation on Stormont Road in Highgate, sharing house with two other priests who were teaching in state schools, until 1976. After a brief sojourn with the Passionists in Highgate he then went to live in the presbytery at St Mary of the Angels in Bayswater until 1978 when he went to live in his own flat in Highgate until 1980. Fr Bernard was committed to the ‘County Schools Apostolate’. His ambition was for priest- and lay-teachers to share accommodation in a large house that would also accommodate religious sisters and a housekeeper. He submitted proposals for the purchase of a 12-room house in Muswell Hill. It seems he wasn’t expecting his proposal to be accepted by the Diocese but thought that perhaps a less ambitious proposal might be, in due course!
In 1980 Fr Bernard was appointed Parish Priest at Holy Rood, Watford where he served until 1996. In 1990 the centenary of Holy Rood church was celebrated on 14 September – the Triumph of the Cross – to close a year of celebrations with Cardinal Basil Hume as the principal celebrant with several other priests, and a variety of religious and civic leaders and representatives in the congregation in a church packed with parishioners. In 1996 Fr Bernard was granted sabbatical leave for a year. During this time he attended the Vatican II Institute, Menlo Park in California and then assisted at Birch Grove parish in Grenada in the Caribbean. He returned to the UK to take up his appointment as Parish Priest at Our Lady and St Joseph, Hanwell where he served from 1997-2012. Soon after taking up this appointment Fr Bernard was appointed to the Metropolitan Chapter of Canons. Cardinal Hume took pleasure in being the first to congratulate Canon Bernard on his appointment. After five years as Parish Priest at Hanwell Canon Bernard was given additional responsibilities as Dean of Ealing. He served with the diocesan Education Department, making a significant contribution to the work of education in the Diocese.
Canon Bernard’s interests were global. In November 2008, following the election of Barack Obama as the forty-fourth President of the United States, he wrote in the parish newsletter at Hanwell, “…as we give thanks for the election of Barack Obama we remember the struggle for civil and human rights for black people in America and the heroism that accompanied that struggle. But his victory is not just about race. It is about commitment to a more just and peaceful society in his country and worldwide…” Canon Bernard was committed to justice and peace locally and internationally. In his parishes he celebrated diversity and he promoted inclusion.
Canon Bernard retired as Parish Priest at Hanwell in 2012 and chose to live in parish accommodation, adjacent to the presbytery, in Boxmoor, Hemel Hempstead. He was happy and was able to pursue his many interests including sport and current affairs, and he kept himself busy with supply ministry in local parishes, including celebrating the Friday Mass at St Albans Cathedral when he was needed. He served on the diocesan Committee for the Welfare of Sick and Retired Priests. For many years he was a regular pilgrim to Lourdes, with the Diocese and with HCPT, enjoying the spiritual and social opportunities available. As a season ticket holder he also made regular pilgrimages to west London whenever Brentford Football Club played at home – a loyal supporter for over seventy years. As well as football, cricket (he was a member of Middlesex Cricket Club), rugby, golf and sailing Canon Bernard enjoyed reading and he loved opera. Despite the mixed fortunes of his football team Canon Bernard always maintained a cheerful and positive disposition. He had lots of energy and a natural ability to reach out to and to affirm others, taking them and their concerns seriously, and he was taken seriously by others. A true gentleman and pastor.
Throughout his life Canon Bernard kept close links with his large family. The family closeness was evident in the annual cricket match in Sussex, using a pitch hired for the occasion. Canon Bernard both played and served as the umpire. As a priest Father, then Canon, Bernard saw the parish as a large family in which everyone is valued, everyone has a part to play. Shortly before his retirement he wrote in the Hanwell parish magazine, “Ultimately, I have to leave everything in the hands of God, thanking Him for the good I may have done, leaving my shortcomings to his tender mercy, and overall rejoicing in the privilege of having been called to serve His people as a priest.”
Canon Bernard moved from Boxmoor to St Anne’s Home in Stoke Newington when his need for care increased. Despite failing health and loss of memory he remained cheerful and gracious. Palliative care enabled him to feel safe and secure, he was comfortable and content as he prepared for God’s call to heaven. He died peacefully during the night of 16/17 March, Second Sunday of Lent/St Patrick’s Day, with members of his family and Sr Mary Benedicta LSP at his bedside.
May the soul of Canon Bernard, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen
