Our Chapel in Memory of Holocaust Martyrs

25 January 2009

St Maximillian Kolbe with St Edith Stein and the Holocaust Martyrs is a Chapel on Alfoxton Road in Horfield, Bristol.  As we look towards Holocaust Memorial Day on Tuesday (27 January) cliftondiocese.com explores the history of the Chapel. 

In 1954 St Thomas More School opened and a Sunday Mass began to be celebrated there, for the Catholic community in this ‘far flung’ part of the parish of St Nicholas of Tolentino.  In 1982, the year that St Maximillian Kolbe was canonised by Pope John Paul II, the former Territorial Army hut was obtained by the parish and transformed into a Chapel.  It was natural to dedicate it to this saint.  It was the first such dedication of a Chapel or Church in Britain to Maximillian Kolbe.

Over the years this Chapel served the parish spiritually very well, but became more and more dilapidated.  The parish were faced with choices; abolish the Mass centre entirely, or move back into St Thomas More School, or finally to rebuild the Chapel.  During this time, on a holiday in France, the Parish Priest Richard McKay was praying before the Blessed Sacrament in a small Auvernge basilica dedicated to Notre Dame d’Orcival; in the peace an inspiration was born, that the chapel should be rebuilt as a Holocaust memorial and as such be a place of pilgrimage, prayer, planning and action for justice and peace in many forms, as well as a place for interfaith dialogue, celebration and prayer.  It was only when leaving the basilica that he discovered this was the Church where the Archbishop of Claremont Ferrand (imprisoned in Buchenwald) and returning French survivors of the Nazi forced labour camps came in pilgrimage to give thanks for their liberation in 1946.

On arriving back in the parish he shared his experience and inspiration and after much prayer it was decided to offer land, adjacent to the Chapel and owned by the parish, to Easton Youth Housing Association. They could build first-time homes for homeless young people, and in exchange would build a new Chapel.  And so it happened.

The result is the fine, prayerful Chapel now in use.  It was rebuilt in the Jubilee year 2000, the year another Austwicz martyr was canonised (also by John Paul II), St Edith Stein.  Her name was added to the dedication along with all who perished in the Holocaust.  To the parish community’s great joy, Bishop Declan dedicated the Chapel later in the Jubilee Year.

A main feature of the chapel is the beautiful stain glass window depicting St Maximillian, St Edith and the numerous Martyrs of the Holocaust

In keeping with the original inspiration, the parish hold annual Holocaust memorial services and have hosted joint services for peace with Jewish, Muslim and Christian leaders.  The parish justice and peace group meet and pray here regularly. It is our hope that in working and praying in this chapel we may play some little part in opposing every form of discrimination, injustice and oppression, and serve the ‘civilisation of love’.

The parish would like to warmly welcome other people from the diocese to use the facilities of this chapel for the purposes of justice and peace. The Chapel accommodates 40 to 50 people and there is a small meeting room and kitchenette.  There are toilet facilities and every place is fully accessible.  Further details from Father Richard McKay on 0117 983 3920.

Tomorrow cliftondiocese.com brings you a podcast presented by Father Richard McKay featuring the Chapel.  Father Richard also gives his thoughts on the lives of the Holocaust Martyrs.