Madam,

At a meeting in 2014 there was accord between Bishop Tom and the Catholic parishioners of Aberystwyth (90 per cent of those present) that the parish church should be situated in the town of Aberystwyth. But the parish funds suddenly dwindled and the options became stark.

Later in 2014, without consultation with parishioners, Bishop Tom announced that the abandoned mission church in Penparcau, dedicated to the Welsh Martyrs, was to be refurbished to become the parish church.

Now, we are told, the work is about to proceed. Everyone recognises the crying need for a parish church. Many however will find it hard to welcome a parish church in a location that will so severely limit the benefits it can offer to the pastoral and spiritual life of the parish, and to visitors.

Bishop Tom in his recent announcement invokes the six canonised Welsh Martyrs. These, and others, died for their faith. They would rejoice that it is alive in Aberystwyth. But they would share the misgivings of many in the parish. After 1700, the faith in Wales died in all but a few small pockets. It died not as a result of persecution but because of the lack of Welsh-speaking priests. After 1800 Roman Catholicism returned to Wales, slowly, but as the faith of incomers, making few inroads into Welsh Wales. Only in the 20th century did significant numbers of Welsh speakers turn to Rome. The greatest inspiration came with the arrival in Aberystwyth in 1936 of the Irish Carmelites. They came with the conviction that what was called for in Wales was a Welsh-speaking clergy. Their legacy was great.

Today, as in the 18th century (but without penal laws) the faith in Wales is challenged by a lack of Welsh-speaking priests. Welsh is no longer the language of the majority. But already, in the general falling away, there are the faithful who find comfort and community in other churches. The Welsh Martyrs died for their faith, not their language. But St David Lewis, the last Welsh Martyr, in 1679, preached in Welsh from the scaffold. Even in our changed world, how would the Martyrs view the direction of a church in which so many Welsh children cannot come into the faith in their mother tongue?

Yours etc,

Daniel Huws, Penrhyncoch.

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