BISHOP Augustine Harris of Middlesbrough is this week considering a surveyors report which strongly recommends that' the city's cathedral church, dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, be closed because of structural damage caused by subsidence.
The Cathedral, built 106 years ago, has visible cracks in its brickwork facade, but the main area of damage is underground. The surveyors report points out that repair will be very expensive. A final decision of he future of the cathedral will be taken in September by the Bishop's Council, and Bishop Harris will release a statement next week on the plight of the cathedral,
Fr Brian Nicholson, the diocesan press officer and the bishop's secretary to told the Catholic Herald this week that if a decision was taken to close the cathedral, alternative arrangements would be made for worship either in the Cathedral House or in an ajoining Catholic school.
As to the future of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Fr Nicholson