St Philip Neri, Liverpool

Introduction

The present church was built just before the First World War and finished in 1920, with architect P. S. Gilby.

History

St Philip Neri Church in Liverpool is distinguished by its Neo-Byzantine style. The parish was canonically erected in 1864. The church cost a total of £35,000 to build.

Architecture and furnishings

The church is built of narrow red-brown brickwork with ashlar dressings and metal sheet coverings to the domes. The east front has twin entrance doorways set within a wide banded semi-circular arched opening of two orders with attached columns. The north elevation has six tall aisle windows set beneath stilted semi-circular arches, with plain shallow buttresses. The interior has a narthex with mosaic decoration to the ceiling and inner tympanum.

The nave has a barrel vaulted ceiling and six-bay arcades with semi-circular arches rising from square columns with mostly plain capitals. The east end has an organ gallery supported on timber columns and with a curved frontage. The dome is of unplastered masonry with eight circular lights. The tympanum above the doorways has relief sculpture of the Virgin and Child, and the central pier has shallow relief carving of Christ.

The north side chapel is dedicated to St Gerald Majella and has a marble altar and reredos, with mosaic decoration to the walls. The south chapel forms a baptistry with a font and less lavish decoration. Above the arcades, the walls are decorated with mosaic representations of biblical scenes and portraits of the Saints. The sanctuary is approached through a tall semi-circular arch, with side altars set before arched recesses with mosaic portraits.

The church has an arcaded marble altar rail with decorative metal gates and an integral pulpit to the south side. The apse has mosaic decoration throughout, except for a plain backdrop to the crucifix above the High Altar.

Parish life

The chaplaincy is led by a chaplain appointed by the Archbishop of Liverpool and accredited by the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University. The Staff and PhD group is an initiative of the Universities' Catholic Chaplaincy providing regular meetings for university staff and doctoral students.

The chaplaincy organises an annual weekend away in February. CathSoc and the Catholic Chaplaincy cooperate in providing pastoral care, catechetical and intellectual formation, arranging visiting speakers, liturgical provision, planning prayer and worship, and developing links with other faith groups. CathSoc is registered with the University of Liverpool Guild of Students and the Students' Union at Liverpool John Moores University.

Regular events

CathSoc committee elections take place each year before Easter. The chaplaincy pays for up to two committee members to attend the training weekend run by the Catholic Students Network in London. CathSoc ensures stalls are booked for Fresher's Weeks, which are key events in the universities' calendar.

Sacraments and pastoral care

The chaplaincy offers weekly Masses and prayer opportunities geared to young people, along with student-led prayer groups, visiting speakers, an annual retreat, and national events such as Flame.

Visiting

The chaplaincy has a garden that visitors may use in the warmer months. The chaplaincy is open to students of the Universities and LIPA during term time. The church is located in the Georgian Quarter, minutes from the main Liverpool University campus.