THE
P RTAL
July 2016
Page 8
by Bishop Cyril Restieaux of Plymouth on 29th March
1969. This stone, which had been carefully carved and
engraved, marks the link between Fulda and Crediton
and came from the Ratgar Basilica, the magnificent
burial place of St Boniface, built in the ninth century.
A stone from the pre-reformation parish church
of The Holy Cross in Crediton was donated and it
became the cornerstone of the baptistery window
arch to celebrate the common Christian heritage in
Crediton. This window was the work of Dom Charles
of Buckfast and was donated by the Abbey. It depicts
water and grace.
The church contains the St Boniface shrine and
two relics of the saint donated by the Bishop of
Fulda. These are displayed in a reliquary in front of a
dramatic relief carving of St Boniface felling the oak
tree at Geismar. This was the work of Kenneth Carter,
head of the Department of sculpture at Exeter College
of Art. He also made the Virgin and Child statue next
to the baptistery.
The church was opened and blessed by the Bishop
Speaking of the Prodigal Son, Mgr Newton told us of Plymouth, Cyril Restieaux, on 3rd October 1969
that God’s mercy abounds towards us sinners. But we and consecrated on 3rd October 1980. The debt to the
must recognise our own lostness, our own need, and diocese had been cleared and the parish had grown
so come to the Father and receive His forgiveness; not from its early beginnings of 14 people to almost 250.
presuming, or taking Him for granted, but trusting.
Contact: St Boniface Roman Catholic Church, Park
At lunch we were able to chat with many of those Road, Crediton, Devon, EX17 3BS. Tel: 01392 271191.
present. There were dear friends from Torbay, Mass Times: Sunday: 9:30am, Thursday: 11:30am,
Cornwall and the Buckfast Ordinariate Group. Some Holy Days: 9:30am.
had travelled from Bristol and even Hemel Hempstead!
Catholic Mission In Crediton
The Catholic mission in Crediton began at the
time of the First World War. There were two military
hospitals in Crediton and those soldiers who were
Catholic joined the local Catholics, estimated at that
time to be about fourteen. Mass was said in the Town
Hall by Canon Shepherd, the Parish Priest in Exeter.
After World War 1, Fr Barney from the Exeter Parish
rented an old Methodist Chapel on Bowden Hill. This
building was bought in 1928 and served until 1966,
when Dom John Stephan of Buckfast Abbey appealed
to the generosity of the German Bishops and raised
£4000 towards the cost of a new church building. A
site was acquired.
Fr George Hay was appointed in 1966 as University
Chaplain and Priest in charge at Crediton. He became
the prime mover in the building of the new church.
Work started in 1968 and the foundation stone,
donated by the Bishop of Fulda, was laid and blessed