Manx elements to feature in service to grant cathedral status

Saint Mary of the Isle Church will be elevated to cathedral status on 3 November

A service to elevate a Catholic church in the capital of the island to cathedral status will incorporate Manx elements, the parish priest has said.

The Lord's prayer will be said in Manx and the island's national anthem will be sung at the Church of Saint Mary of the Isle in Douglas.

A decree from Pope Francis will also be read during the ceremony on 3 November.

Monsignor John Devine said it would be a "joyous occasion" with a Manx "flavour".

The change follows Douglas being awarded city status as part of Platinum Jubilee celebrations last year.

The Church will become "co-cathedral" to Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, based 80 miles (129km) away across the Irish Sea, making the churches the first in the British Isles to share the same bishop.

The church received cathedral status after a petition to Pope Francis

The service will be attended by the Archbishop of Liverpool Malcolm McMahon who sent a petition for the status change to Pope Francis, and canons of the Metropolitan Cathedral and bishops from across England and Wales.

The Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, who acts as the Pope's ambassador, will deliver a decree on his behalf.

Archbishop Buendía will also install Archbishop McMahon in his chair, which will be permanently fixed in the space with a specially designed coat of arms blending Manx and Archdiocesan symbols.

Monsignor Devine said it would serve as a "constant reminder" to the people of the island that they were part of the Archdiocese of Liverpool.

The service, set to have a "Manx flavour", will also celebrate "the ancient Celtic traditions of the Catholic Church on the island and its links to the church in Liverpool", he added

The Anglican Dean of the Cathedral Church of Saint German in Peel, the only other cathedral on the island, will also feature in the service.

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