The present church of St Thomas More in Swiss Cottage is the third on the site in Maresfield Gardens since the first Mass was celebrated there on Thursday 29 September 1938, just three years after the canonisation of its patron.
The elliptically planned church was designed by Gerard Goalen, and completed in time for Christmas 1968. It was solemnly consecrated by Cardinal Hume on 8 May 1977.
In April 2005 Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor entrusted the pastoral care of the parish to the Opus Dei Prelature. [Click here for Opus Dei Web Site].
About our Patron Saint
Born London 1478. Studied at Oxford. Page for the Archbishop of Canterbury. Lawyer. Twice married, father of one son and three daughters, and a devoted family man. Writer. Friend of King Henry VIII. Lord Chancellor of England, a position of power second only to the king. Opposed the king on the matter of royal divorce, and refused to swear the Oath of Supremacy which declared the king the head of the Church in England. Resigned the Chancellorship, and was imprisoned in the Tower of London . Martyred 6 July 1535 for his refusal to bend his religious beliefs to the king's political needs. Patron saint of adopted children , civil servants, court clerks, difficult marriages, large families, lawyers, politicians, statesmen, step-parents, widowers. Feast with St John Fisher 22 June.
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