Parish priest reflects on his happy years in Barry

Glamorgan Star news 06/07/2022

8 minutes read

Father Pat O’Gorman at home.

Parish priest reflects on his happy years in Barry – by MARCUS STEAD:

A parish priest at St Helen’s RC Church in Barry is retiring in a few weeks after 25 years of serving the community.

Canon Patrick O’Gorman, 77, known by everybody as ‘Father Pat’ will formally retire after saying Mass on Sunday 24th July.

But while he will be taking things easier in future, Fr Pat certainly isn’t saying goodbye to his many friends in the area because when he expressed a desire to stay in Barry during his retirement, the archdiocese arranged for him to move into a property in the town.

Fr Pat, a softly-spoken and good-humoured man was joined by parish administrator Kirsty Vater as we looked back on his years in the priesthood.

Born in Dublin as one of six children, Fr Pat knew from a young age that he wanted to become a priest, and he considers that certainty to have been a great help in his early life: “I felt a strong sense from a young age that I was going to become a priest. It was comforting to know as a young man that this is what I was going to do.

“A lot of young people take their A levels and don’t really know where they’re heading in life or what they want to be. I knew that I was going to become a priest, and I consider myself very fortunate to have had that sense of direction and purpose,” he said.

Fr Pat did his training at All Hallows College in Dublin, where all trainee priests knew they would be leaving Ireland to take up posts across the English-speaking world. Fr Pat had a contact in south Wales, and he was posted to St Cadoc’s church in Llanrumney, Cardiff. Fr Pat recalls his first day with great clarity: “I arrived on 3 September, 1971, at 3pm precisely. It is a moment that has always stuck with me,” he said.

During the following 26 years, Fr Pat had spells at parishes in Llanishen, Bridgend, Cardiff Docks, Blackwood, Pontllanfraith, Clydach, Ledbury and Malpas before being posted to St Helen’s in 1997 to succeed Fr Pierce Maher, who was transferred to Llantwit Major and Cowbridge where he served until his death in 2011. Contd. below

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Contd. Two years after arriving at St Helen’s, Fr Pat became seriously ill and spent time in hospital following which he returned to Dublin for a lengthy period of convalescence, but he eventually made a full recovery and resumed his duties in the parish in May 2000 after 14 months away.

The early years of the new millennium were difficult for the whole archdiocese as a number of churches were in a poor state of repair and a shortage of clergy led to a review which led to parish mergers and building closures.

Barry and the surrounding areas were particularly affected by the changes, and in April 2003 it was confirmed that St Michael and All Angels in Barry and St Vincent de Paul in Rhoose would be closed and the parishes amalgamated with St Helen’s.

The process was a difficult and sometimes painful one for parishioners, who in some cases had attended the same church their entire lives, and Fr Pat was praised for the sensitive and careful way in which he handled the mergers: “We used to have three Masses at St Helen’s every Sunday, and we decided to move the Sunday evening Mass to Saturday, partly because the church in Rhoose had a long-established Saturday evening Mass, and partly because public transport links are better on Saturdays, so people who went to the churches that had closed could get to St Helen’s more easily,” he said.

At the time of the merger, Fr Pat memorably told long-serving St Helen’s parishioners that they couldn’t have their own seats at Mass and encouraged them to sit in a different place the following week to help them get to know the newcomers from the closed churches in a bid to make them feel a full part of the St Helen’s community.

Fr Pat’s 25 years at St Helen’s have been a time of great change for Barry and this has been reflected in the congregation at the church: “When I first arrived in 1997, a large number of the parishioners were of Irish, Italian and sometimes Maltese origin.

“As time has gone on, attendance numbers have remained healthy, but this is largely due to newcomers from India, Poland and the Philippines who have settled in the area,” he said.

Working with young people has been an important part of Fr Pat’s ministry throughout his 51 years in the priesthood. Since arriving in Barry, he has regularly said Mass and provided pastoral care at St Helen’s RC Primary School and St Richard Gwyn RC High School.

Over the years, he has noticed huge changes in the way the younger generations connect with the church: “During my early years as a priest, table tennis and darts in the church hall was commonplace, and Friday night discos were a big thing as well.

“Nowadays, young people seem to live their lives through their smartphones and social media a lot more,” he said.

Indeed, the challenges brought by the pandemic saw Fr Pat embrace technology to a far greater extent than in the past: “We moved very quickly to provide live online streaming of Masses, and even though we couldn’t be together in person, we made sure that in terms of Mass being said at St Helen’s, things carried on as normally as possible.

“We made the live streaming permanent, so that people can view the altar 24 hours a day, seven days per week.

“That is something people appreciate. If they want to have a quiet time in prayer and reflection, they can do so whenever they wish with the help of the online streaming,” he said.

Kirsty said that the online streaming has gained views from across the world. She said: “It was initially set up as a way of allowing our regular churchgoers to observe Mass during the pandemic, but we soon realised that it was being watched by people from across the UK and the wider world, which is extraordinary.”

The pandemic brought many new challenges to Fr Pat’s ministry, but he was quick to adapt: “As soon as we were able to reopen, we didn’t dither or delay. We put all the necessary hand sanitising and social distancing measures in place, and we adopted a system whereby people could book a place at Mass.

“The really hard part was the funerals, because we had to follow strict guidelines in terms of the numbers of people who could attend.

“Visiting elderly people in residential and care homes was very difficult because of the restrictions, and that has only recently returned to normal.

“Many of these people had been coming to church their whole lives, so the pandemic was especially difficult for them,” he said.

Kirsty added her own thoughts on the problems of holding funerals during the pandemic: “We all remember that image of the Queen sitting alone, away from her family at Prince Philip’s funeral last year.

“Well, there were similar scenes at many funerals during the pandemic. It was very hard to see bereaved people not being able to sit alongside and comfort close family members at funerals,” she said.

Fr Pat said that the full impact of the pandemic on Mass attendance at St Helen’s may not be understood for some time to come, as many elderly and vulnerable parishioners are still nervous about catching Covid.

In recent months, St Helen’s has been at the forefront of a huge effort to provide essential goods to

The effort was spearheaded by Polish parishioners Barbara Sliwinska and Magdalena Kwiatkowska, who decided to do something small to help, but as news of their efforts spread, they quickly became inundated with donations.

Within days, they were forced to ask their neighbours to store the parcels in their homes and garages, and when they too became full, they turned to Fr Pat for help, who allowed the church hall to be used for storage.

The donations kept coming, and only a few days later the church hall was also full to capacity with 220 boxes of vital equipment which were sent to Ukraine in the first delivery.

Items received included children’s clothing, dried foods, paracetamol, ibuprofen, bandages, sleeping bags, thermal socks and hats, and Fr Pat was keen to pay tribute to all involved: “Barbara and Magdalena did a tremendous job in getting the campaign going, and I’d like to express my thanks not only to members of St Helen’s parish, but people from other faiths and none who have also contributed.

“The effort is ongoing and in recent months we have really seen how generous and caring the people in this community are,” he said.

Fr Pat’s personal popularity extends well beyond the Catholic community, and good relations with other denominations are important to him: “We have the Walk of Witness on Good Friday every year where members of the public follow a procession of the cross that stops at the various Christian places of worship around the town.

“People like to stop and have a chat. Some aren’t churchgoers at all. Then they know you and they remember you,” he said.

With the official date of his retirement fast approaching, Fr Pat has mixed thoughts on how he will adapt to retirement. He said: “The whole thing is a bit unreal. You’ve just got to let things unravel. You’ve worked for 50 years of your life and then it comes to a stop.”

While Fr Pat will no longer have any formal responsibilities, he still plans to make himself available to say Mass as holiday and sickness cover throughout the archdiocese: “It’s important for me to celebrate Mass. To bring the salvation of the Mass is important, and that will continue,” he said.

When asked what he will miss most about being parish priest at St Helen’s, Fr Pat said: “I will miss the interaction with people. Barry has been a good parish, the people have always been very co-operative and helpful. The priest has a leading role, but we need the people.”

Fr Pat enjoys watching films, rugby and football on TV, and he says he will particularly miss the banter with parishioners on the weekend of the Wales v Ireland Six Nations fixture every year: “I’m very careful to stay impartial in public,” he says, unconvincingly.

Kirsty disagrees: “Everybody knows exactly where his allegiances lie. He’s been known to attend social functions wearing an Ireland rugby jersey. He’s not fooling anyone!” she said.

When asked what he will least miss about being a parish priest, Fr Pat gave a very definite answer: “Over-the-top health and safety legislation. It’s something that has gradually crept up over the years and it has become completely excessive. It takes up an absurd amount of my time and some of the requirements are laughable,” he said.

A party to mark Fr Pat’s 50 years in the priesthood had to be shelved last year because of Covid restrictions, but arrangements are being made for a special joint celebration in October to mark the milestone and his retirement.

The new priest at St Helen’s comes from Croatia, something Fr Pat welcomes: “I think it’s important for people to experience our faith from different international perspectives. He will have his own story and set of experiences which he will bring to the role of parish priest.

“I’m sure that the community at St Helen’s will show him the same warmth and kindness they have always shown to me, and I’m very much looking forward to getting to know him,” he said.

There have been many changes during Fr Pat’s 25 years at St Helen’s, and as he prepares to retire, he has words of optimism about the future. He said: “The last 25 years have seen huge changes, and I’m sure there will be further big changes in the years ahead.

“I will go into retirement feeling confident that 100 years from now, St Helen’s parish church will still be here serving the people of Barry and well beyond.”

🌟 This article first appeared in the printed edition of the Glamorgan Star on 30.06.22. Read it in print first!