The Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of the Church Parish in Ealing, London, in 1950-2000 (part II)

Abstract

At the Polish Roman Catholic Community, during the fifty years of its existence, altogether more than forty parish groups (liturgical, prayer, charity, cultural, social, sports) and public (veterans', schooling, educational) organizations worked. The range of their activities and the kind of effect they had on the parish life was diverse and it depended on the character and vitality of the given group.

Among the groups with a prayer-formative character two had most members – both were numbered among the movements of the post-Council revival in the Church: Revival in the Holy Spirit (established in the 1970s) and the Light-Life Movement (1985). Groups especially involved in organizing liturgical celebrations and feasts, celebrating national anniversaries, jubilees, social meetings and charity action in the parish included: Sodality of Our Lady (1952), Common Aid Section (1980), “Millenium” Youth Club (1965), Circle of Religious Knowledge (1988), Polish Veterans Association – Circle nr 4 Ealing (1947) and Scouting (1947).

The Blessed Virgin Mary the Mother of the Church Parish is now the greatest European parish in the Polish community abroad as far as the number of the faithful is concerned. Its special character is undoubtedly influenced by the fact that Poles constituting it come from a few different waves of Polish emigration. It is worth noting that in the face of the changes that took place at the end of the 20^th and the beginning of the 21^st centuries the character of parish structures was changed, and so was the role of the Church in the life of Poles born in Great Britain or ones who have come there in recent years. Also the role of the Polish parish as the center sustaining the Polish national identity and promoting patriotic attitudes, as well as – which follows from this – the style and requirements of pastoral work have changed. Certainly analysis of some Ealing parish pastoral issues made just from the point of view of the transformations that occurred in recent years deserves a separate study.