Parish of St John XXIII & St Joseph, Birtley

We are part of the Parish of St. John XXIII and St. Joseph, Birtley. The parish incorporates the church of Our Lady Queen of Peace, Penshaw, which is next to our school.

Parish Priest: Father Martin Morris

Contact Number: 0191 416 3583

Parish Email: stjohn23rd@diocesehn.org.uk

Parish Website: Catholic Churches in Washington and Penshaw

We are part of the partnership of St Benedict in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle. The Churches in our Parish are: Our Blessed Lady Immaculate in Washington Village, St Bede’s in Usworth, St. John Boste in Oxclose, Our Lady Queen of Peace in Penshaw and St. Joseph’s in Birtley.

The clergy who serve our Parish are: Fr Martin Morris, Fr Luke Wilkinson, Fr Martin Wheaton,

Deacon Frank O’Neill and Deacon Tony Joy.

Sunday Mass

Sunday Mass is celebrated every Sunday at 10am. The church website will list alternative mass times for other churches within the parish.

Confession/Reconciliation

The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available at all of the parish churches. Please look at the latest parish newsletter for confirmation of the available times.

Sacrament of Baptism

For your child to receive the Sacrament of Baptism, one parent should already be baptised Catholic.

If you want to request a Baptism, please collect a form from the church where you want the Baptism to take place, complete the form and hand it in to any member of the clergy.

For more information please call 07552 733540.

The form is also available to complete on the parish website, under the heading Parish Life and Sacraments. Once the form is complete, someone from the parish will be in touch with further information to arrange the Baptism and give further details about Baptism preparation.