Call for Inquiry on Funds to Save Church, Liam Murphy, Liverpool Daily Post, Jul 28 2008

Call for Inquiry on Funds to Save Church

By Liam Murphy
Liverpool Daily Post

Jul 28 2008

http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-news/regional-news/2008/07/28/call-for-inquiry-on-funds-to-save-church-64375-21415902/

CAMPAIGNERS last night accused Catholic Church authorities of failing to spend hundreds of thousands of pounds of parishioners’ money donated to help save a historic Merseyside church.

A pressure group set up to save the renowned SS Peter and Paul’s church in Wirral have now called for an investigation into church leaders by the Charity Commission. The campaigners say they have donated hundreds of thousands of pounds through Gift Aid – which allows the church to reclaim tax on the money – but that money has not been spent as they believed it would be, such as on routine maintenance.

The Catholic authorities refused to discuss the claims last night, and said there was nothing to add to the Bishop’s announced decision to close the church .

Soul – Savour Our Unique Landmark – was set up to save the Wirral church which stands high in New Brighton and can be seen from across Merseyside.

Affectionately known as the Dome of Home, it is also a prominent landmark spotted by sailors as they approach Liverpool’s docks.

But Soul says it has been left without key repairs being carried out for at least 10 years as Catholic authorities prepared to find a way to close it.

The group has even arranged itself for some works to guttering to be carried out in a bid to stop the church building falling into serious disrepair.

According to Soul, a decision was made 10 years ago to "covertly withdraw maintenance" of the Parish church of SS Peter and Paul – they believe the decision to close the Church was made at that point, and that all that has happened since has been done in order to fulfil that goal.

But many in the church’s congregation had continued to make Gift Aid payments to their parish church, which Soul says accrued "surplus income of approximately ?35,000 per year".

That would suggest a total of more than ?350,000 over the last decade.

The diocese continued to apply for Income Tax relief on these funds where Gift Aid was registered, but the money is in a bank account controlled by Shrewsbury Diocese, who refused all but the most essential repairs to SS Peter and Paul’s.

In a letter to the Charity Commission, Soul chairman Frank McGowan, said: "We the parishioners accept that the Trustees may decide to change their policy in regard to the maintenance and repair of a building that is under their care in the trust.

"However, we do not accept that, when such a decision impinges on the interests of our parishioners, the Trustees have a right to keep such a decision secret."

A spokeswoman for the Charity Commission confirmed they had received the letter and were responding to Soul.

Mr McGowan said: "One of our members has drawn the analogy of the diocese claiming tax back without repairing the church with those TV programmes which had people phone up premium lines even though the winner had already been chosen."

The future of the church had been in doubt for some time although Catholic authorities, through the Diocese of Shrewsbury which oversees churches in Wirral, had initially said no decision would be made about closure until next year.

But in a shock announcement last month, parishioners were told the church would close on August 17 – this despite a letter just a few months earlier from the Vatican reassuring them there were "no current plans" to shut SS Peter and Paul’s.

Churchgoers at SS Peter and Paul’s were further infuriated when the congregation of the Anglican church they are now supposed to share with were told of this plan months before them.

The Soul group say they are determined to battle on to save their church and the assets its parishioners have contributed towards building up.

Father John Joyce, of the Diocese of Shrewsbury, said: "The bishop has announced his decision along with the trustees to close the church and there is no further comment to make. They have a right to pursue whatever they want, but the bishop has made his position clear on this."