To be a welcoming Community that encounter Jesus in our Sacraments and spiritual activities, and reflecting Jesus’ experience to the periphery of our community through the works of charity and transparent Christian living.
To be a welcoming Community that encounter Jesus in our Sacraments and spiritual activities, and reflecting Jesus’ experience to the periphery of our community through the works of charity and transparent Christian living.
Our normal Mass times are now as follows:
Saturday – 6:00pm (Sunday Vigil) at St. Paul’s, Cramlington
Sunday – 9:30am at St. John the Baptist, Annitsford
Tuesday – 10:00am at St. John the Baptist, Annitsford
Wednesday – 10:00am at St. Paul’s, Cramlington The Rosary will be recited at 9:30am each Wednesday during the 2025 Jubilee Year
Thursday – 10:00am at St. Paul’s, Cramlington
Friday – 7:00pm at St. John the Baptist, Annitsford
The weekday Masses at St. Paul’s will now be celebrated in the church until October or November 2025.
Palm Sunday – April 13th, 2025 Holy Day of Obligation
Palm Sunday is the final Sunday of Lent, the beginning of Holy Week, and commemorates the triumphant arrival of Christ in Jerusalem, days before he was crucified.
Palm Sunday is known as such because the faithful will often receive palm fronds which they use to participate in the re-enactment of Christ’s arrival in Jerusalem.
In the Gospels, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding a young donkey, and to the lavish praise of the townspeople who threw clothes, or possibly palms or small branches, in front of him as a sign of homage. This was a customary practice for people of great respect.
Palm branches are a widely recognised symbol of peace and victory, hence their preferred use on Palm Sunday.
The use of a donkey instead of a horse is highly symbolic; it represents the humble arrival of someone in peace, as opposed to arriving on a steed in war.
A week later, Christ would rise from the dead on the first Easter.
During Palm Sunday Mass, palms are distributed to parishioners who carry them in a ritual procession into church. The palms are blessed, and many people will fashion them into small crosses or other items of personal devotion. These may be returned to the church, or kept for the year.
Because the palms are blessed, they may not be discarded as trash. Instead, they are appropriately gathered at the church and incinerated to create the ashes that will be used in the following year’s Ash Wednesday observance.
The colours of the Mass on Palm Sunday are red and white, symbolising the redemption in blood that Christ paid for the world.
We offer the facility for Mass to be celebrated for your personal Intentions. The Mass Intentions will be published weekly on our Calendar (see below). If you wish to use this facility please download a Form using the “MASS INTENTION” link at the top of the page (between LOGIN and BULLETIN) or fill in one of the envelopes at the back of Church and hand it to Fr. Manoj or place in the Offertory Collection.
The Holy Father’s Message is inspired by the Jubilee 2025 theme “Pilgrims of Hope”. In his Message, the Holy Father underlines that to journey “evokes the lengthy journey of the people of Israel to the Promised Land” and adds that “a first call to conversion thus comes from the realisation that all of us are pilgrims in this life”. The Pope underlines that this journey is made together and explains that “Christians are called to walk at the side of others, and never as lone travellers”, it is necessary “to walk together, to be synodal” because “this is the vocation of the Church”. In conclusion, the Holy Father affirms that it is necessary “to journey together in hope, for we have been given a promise”, in that “hope does not disappoint” (Rom 5:5). This is the third call to conversion, which is the central message of the Jubilee, “a call to hope, to trust in God and his great promise of eternal life”. For this reason, the Pope encourages us so that hope “may be the focus of our Lenten journey towards the victory of Easter”. For Lent, enriched by the grace of the Jubilee Year, the Pope offers several reflections on what it means to “journey together in hope” and discover the summons to conversion that God’s mercy addresses to each one of us. For more information and to read the full message visit
“Message of Pope Francis for Lent 2025 – Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development”
Exposition of The Blessed Sacrament takes place at St. Paul’s, Cramlington on a Saturday from 5:30pm until 5:55pm prior to the Vigil Mass; At St. John’s, Annitsford on Sunday from 9:00am until 9:25am prior to the Sunday Mass and from 6:00pm until 6:55pm on a Friday prior to the evening Mass.
Church is a place of prayer and reverence for the Blessed Sacrament reserved.
Please keep due silence and atmosphere of the ‘Presence of God’
Reconciliation – Facilities to attend Reconciliation will be available prior to every daily Mass. You can also request Reconciliation at your convenience with a prior agreed time.
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Our Holy Father – We ask you all to continue to pray for the swift and complete recovery of our Holy Father. May God’s healing grace surround him during this time and may he soon return to his sacred and important duties with renewed strength and good health.
Bishop Stephen has shared a Diocesan Vision (see documents opposite) with priorities for further prayerful reflection along with the following message. READ ME
Initial Diocesan Vision Pentecost 2024
ASSIST US TO LIVE, NOT TO DIE!
The following message has been sent by the Bishops of England, Wales and Scotland for your immediate attention.
Dear Friends and Defenders of human life, This Sunday you will be given a voting card to send to your MP. I encourage you to use this vote. Life is sacred and must be protected at all costs until the end of natural life, even if, and when, we struggle to find meaning and purpose. Life is a gift to be protected, especially when threatened by sickness and death.
Palliative care, with expert pain relief, and good human, spiritual and pastoral support, is the right and best way to care for people towards the end of life. The Catholic Bishops in England, Wales, and in Scotland have written a statement, and there are copies available at the back of church. Here are two points they make:
1) We appeal to those who share our Catholic belief in human dignity and sanctity of life, including fellow Christians, other religious people, and people of reason and good will, to join with us in defending the weakest and most vulnerable who are at risk through this proposed legislation.
2) We are alarmed by the impact that legalisation will have on the most vulnerable members of our society. The option to end life can quickly, and subtly, be experienced as a duty to die. Some may well feel their continued existence is a burden to others, and, implicitly or explicitly, be pressured into assisted suicide. This includes people who are elderly, infirm, and living with disabilities. The protection of such people is the foundation of civilised society. It is at the heart of good government.
Bishops in England, Wales, and in Scotland.
Fr. Marron acquired the current site from the developers in 1969 and oversaw the planning / design of the church with a total cost of £70,00 for the site, church and presbytery.
Dear Friends,
Welcome to St. Paul’s R.C. Church!
For over fifty years, this Parish Family has provided a welcoming and cordial environment for Eucharistic Celebrations
Fr. Manoj Joseph Punchakunnel SAC
Parish Priest
For Daily Readings
The Jubilee Prayer
Father in heaven, may the faith you have given us in your son, Jesus Christ, our brother, and the flame of charity enkindled in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, reawaken in us the blessed hope for the coming of your Kingdom.
May your grace transform us into tireless cultivators of the seeds of the Gospel. May those seeds transform from within both humanity and the whole cosmos in the sure expectation of a new heaven and a new earth, when, with the powers of Evil vanquished, your glory will shine eternally.
May the grace of the Jubilee reawaken in us, Pilgrims of Hope, a yearning for the treasures of heaven.
May that same grace spread the joy and peace of our Redeemer throughout the earth.
To you our God, eternally blessed, be glory and praise for ever. Amen
The unlocking of the Holy Door at St. Peter’s Basilica on Christmas Eve by Pope Francis, the event that started off the 2025 Jubilee heralded the start of a historic event taking place every 25 years and that will end with the closing of the door on January 6, 2026. The opening can be viewed on YouTube via the following link – https://youtu.be/PvBIzxFKIqM
For CAFOD’s Jubilee Reflection Guide – please CLICK HERE