FIFTH ARCHBISHOP OF LIVERPOOL

HE news of the Holy Father's appointment of Mgr. John Carmel Heenan, D.D., now Bishop of Leeds, to the archiepiscopal See of Liverpool in succession to Archbishop Godfrey, now transferred to Westminster, has given the greatest satisfaction to his very many admirers in this country and abroad, where he has often travelled.
Eighth holder of the Merseyside See, he will be its fifth Archbishop, for Liverpool was raised to metropolitan rank only in the time of Bishop Whiteside, in 1911. Leeds, which he now vacates, is in fact one of the five suffragan dioceses comprising the Liverpool Province.
In Liverpool Mgr. Heenan will with his characteristic vigour apply himself to the formidable task of building a great cathedral, begun in the time of Archbishop Downey.
Ile will be at home among the loyal Catholic people of West Lancashire, so many of whom are of Irish descent and unmistakeable Irish sympathies, for he himself is partly of Irish stock too.
Born at Ilford, Essex, in 1905, Mgr. Heenan worked in London's East End as a parish priest, experiencing the blitz that took so much toll in that area in the war years. He was appointed to Leeds in 1951.
Prior to that, he had worked as Superior to the Catholic Missionary Society for four years, during which lime he (ravelled up and down the country, often with a motor-chapel, and engaged in the numerous and often arduous activities for which the Fathers of the Society are known.
Editor's Tribute
WE trust that it will not be out
of place for THE CATHOLIC HERAI D to express in a very special way its happiness at the appointment of Bishop Heenan to the great archiepiscopal See of Liverpool.
From long before he was appointed to the episcopal bench, the Father Heenan of those days was a friend and often counsellor of those responsible for this newspaper. As a Bishop, he has always shown a keen interest in the Catholic Press and striven to help it to become ever more worthy of its responsibility. Readers will doubtless remember the special article which he wrote, some months ago, on THE CATHOLIC HERALD — a typically frank and forthright article in which he made helpful criticisms and strongly underlined merits. The article provoked many letters from readers proving the great interest which it aroused.
Bishop Heenan has always been an outstandingly apostolic prelate. never fearing to say what he thinks, both in the national press and on the platform. His courage and forthright honesty have always gone with a manifest spirit of charity and understanding and they have therefore earned him trust and popularity in all quarters. Heavy and responsible tasks await him in the future. Relying on God's help and the prayers of his fellow Catholics, he will not flinch from the work imposed on him. We can assure him of the special prayers of the staff and readers of this paper.
Manresa Novices
After a number of sears as a teachers' training college for Jesuits, Manresa House, Roehampton, is once again to be the novitiate of the English Province of the Society of Jesus. The Jesuit novitiate, probably the largest novitiate in the country, has been at Harlaxton Hall in Lincolnshire.
Manresa House, a beautiful and historic Georgian mansion, looks across Richmond Parkto the White Lodge and despite the building of an enormous housing estate all around it, the house iTself has been preserved with its PRIESTS' AND PEOPLE'S' GREAT JOY (From Bishop J. F. Halsall, Vicar Capitular of Liverpool.)
THE news of the appointment
of Archbishop Heenan will he received with -especial joy by priests and people of the Archdiocese of Liverpool. He has for long been an outstanding figure in the Church in the country, and has • wide experience of pastoral and administrative work as parish priest, Superior of the Catholic Missionary Society, and Bishop of Leeds. It was a special personal joy for me to learn of the appointment of Dr. Heenan, whose friendship 1 have enjoyed since our student days together at the English College in Rome.
Chain of Masses at Fatima
A chain of 150 Masses are being said at Fatima this weekend preceding the 40th anniversary of the first apparition of Our Lady to the three children on May 13, 1917.
The Masses, which are being said by 48 priests. begin this morning (Friday) and will continue uninterruptedly. They will end with a High Mass to he celebrated by Cardinal Cerejeira, Patriarch of Lisbon, on Monday.