DECREE CONCERNING THE MERGER OF THE PARISHES of ST BONAVENTURE (Welwyn Garden City) & HOLY FAMILY (Welwyn Garden City Digswell) & OUR LADY QUEEN OF APOSTLES (Welwyn Garden City East)
Following consultation with the Council of Priests in accordance with Canon 515 §2, and conscious of the views expressed by the priests of the local Deanery and the lay faithful of the above named parishes, I, Vincent Cardinal Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster, have determined that the spiritual welfare and pastoral needs of the faithful of the parish of St Bonaventure, (Welwyn Garden City), the faithful of the parish of Holy Family (Welwyn Garden City Digswell) and of the faithful of the parish of Our Lady Queen of Apostles (Welwyn Garden City East) will be better served by merging these three parishes into one new parish.
Therefore, I hereby decree that the parish of St Bonaventure, the parish of Holy Family and the parish of Our Lady Queen of Apostles are to be united to form a new parish. The ecclesiastical goods and patrimonial rights of the former parish of St Bonaventure, the former parish of Holy Family, and the former parish of Our Lady Queen of Apostles together with their respective obligations, in accordance with Canons 121-122, are to be ceded to the newly erected parish.
The name of the new parish shall be 'Welwyn Garden City with the Churches of St Bonaventure, Holy Family and Our Lady Queen of Apostles'. The territorial boundaries of the new parish shall be the combined boundaries of the former parish St Bonaventure, the former parish of Holy Family and the former parish of Our Lady Queen of Apostles.
As the Churches of the former parish of St Bonaventure, the former parish of Holy Family and the former parish of Our Lady Queen of Apostles will remain open and will serve as Churches of the new parish, separate sacramental registers will continue to be kept.
In accordance with Canon 524, I appoint Reverend Norbert Fernandes to be the parish priest of the new parish of 'Welwyn Garden City with the Churches of St Bonaventure Holy Family and Our Lady Queen of Apostles'.
This Decree shall become effective from 1 January 2023, and shall be communicated to the parishioners of St Bonaventure, Holy Family and Our Lady Queen of Apostles by Father Fernandes at the earliest opportunity. The decree shall be published on the diocesan website.
Given this eighteenth day of November two thousand and twenty two.
Cardinal Vincent Gerard Nichols
Archbishop of Westminster
