Southwark Lost its Cathedral and

Five Churches —4JFFICIAL. STATISTICS Ivow PUBLISHED
FIVE PRIESTS AND MANY NUNS DIED IN BLITZ
From Southwark blitzed diocese of Southern England comes the first comprehensive report of damage done to the Catholic community during the five years of German aerial bombardment on London.
Five priests of the diocese were killed, and many nuns. Southwark's Cathedral and five churches have been laid in ruins. In all, 134 churches have been damaged. Schools, presbyteries and church buildings have been destroyed.
Late on an early spring evening of 1945 the most tragic blow of all struck the diocese. Just as Fr.
Arbuthnot, of Bermondsey, had returned home after spending some time in the parish's youth club, a rocketbomb fell near the presbytery. Fr. Arbuthnot was seriously injured; the other three priests of Bermondsey were killed. They were all comparatively young men. Er. Michael O'Riordan, parish priest. was 51 years-of-age, Frs. Stephen Spillane and Finbard McCarthy were 32 and 31 respectively. The presbytery was almost completely destroyed. The first priest of the diocese to be killed was Fr. Dockery, who died during the Battle of Britain while he was travelling to his home with the purpose of removing his mother to a safe area.
Shortly afterwards, in autumn, 1940, Fr. Richard Barry was killed when the Germunt bombed the Boys' Home at Ctapharn.
Three Sisters of Our Lady of Consolation died when the new Catholic Hospital was destroyed in 1941. Other nuns were killed in convents at Newhaven, Nightingale Lane, and Sydenham.
TOTAL DESTRUCTION St. George's Cathedral was totally destroyed in 1941, and the Bishop's House, Clergy House, schools and hall damaged.
In Earlsfield, St. Gregory's, its presbytery, clubrooms and halls were totally destroyed in 1944. The church of the Sacred Heart, Camberwell, was one of the first to be destroyed. In 1940 the church was wiped out an4 the presbytery, schools, hall and other property, damaged.
Holy Trinity Church, Dock-head, was blitzed twice. In 1940 the church was totally destroyed and in 1945 the presbytery and the new temporary Mass Centre were also obliterated.
St. Joseph's Church, St. Mary Cray, its schools and presbytery, were also totally destroyed in 1941. In 1940 St. Philip Neri's, in Sydenham, was practically destroyed.
BADLY DAMAGED Chth-ches badly damaged by aerial warfare include St. Mary Magdalen, Brockley; St. Joseph's, Greenwich; Our Lady Star of the See, Greenwich (twice bombed); Our Lady of the Assumption (bombed several times); St. John Vianney, Bexley ; St. Matthew's, Norwood (seriously in 1940 and 1944); St. Thomas More, Dulwich; St. Wilfred's, Newington. The other churches, comprising a total, with the above, of 134, have all been more or less damaged by bombardment. In some cases the schools, halls, presbyteries and parochial clubrooms, have been completely destroyed. The extent of much of this damage is almost incalculable.
43 CONVENTS Forty-three establishments, including 'convents, schools (for boys and girls) have also been damaged in Southwark. In Rotherhithe (down town) the convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Hearts or Jesus and Mary was totally destroyed in 1940.
Houses, homes, garages and other properties of the church were damaged in over twenty London districts.