Message from Father Jim
16th August 2026
This week, we have been coming to terms with the sudden death of Father Paul Taylor. Father Paul was known and loved by so many across the parishes of Blackburn and Darwen, and he was greatly loved here at Sacred Heart and St Anne’s. His warmth, kindness and dedication touched the lives of so many people. On Friday evening, we gathered at St Anne’s to celebrate Mass for Father Paul. The church was full, and it was a beautiful and prayerful liturgy, giving us the opportunity to come together as a community to remember him, give thanks for his life and ministry, and pray for the repose of his soul.
We continue to keep Father Paul, his family, friends and all those who mourn him in our prayers. We hope to be able to announce his funeral this coming week.
Garden Party Postponement
The Garden Party scheduled for next Sunday 23rd has been postponed and it is hoped will be re-arranged for sometime in mid September after Father Paul’s funeral
Newsletter
This week’s newsletter can be viewed here
Bags at the back of Sacred Heart are once more out for the summer holidays to help many of our neighbours who are struggling even more at this time of year but please remember that you do not need to lug shopping home but can donate in most supermarkets or online. More details at https://blackburn.foodbank.org.uk/give-help/donate-food/
Universal Credit should cover the cost of life’s essentials IT DOES NOT and the summer holidays tip even more families over the edge. You can read more about the campaign to embed an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ into Universal Credit by clicking the following link: https://www.trussell.org.uk/…/guarantee-our-essentials
Andy Burnham is reported to be set to host 2027 G20 summit in Manchester.
Just a reminder to PLEASE take a few moments to sign the 2026 summer petition urging the upcoming UK’s G20 presidency to bring governments together to fix the broken global debt system and guarantee fast, fair and effective debt relief for countries in crisis. The petition is at the back of Sacred Heart Church as well as in the Parish room – you can also sign online by clicking here
Vatican News
The Vatican news widget is now onsite so the latest news from the Vatican can be accessible from the right hand side of this page under the menu, or alternatively click here for a larger display.
Contributions to Sacred Heart & St Anne
Donations can be made via the collection plate in Church or direct from your bank account, the details of which can be found here
If you pay tax please consider adding gift aid to your contribution which would enable the parish to claim an extra 25% courtesy of the taxman at no cost to yourself. If this is something you would like to consider please contact me here with your phone and email address and I will ask Margaret, our gift aid co-ordinater, to get in touch.
Current gift aid donors can ignore this paragraph as we will pick up the information from their names if they donate online.
Past Memories
Recent events and memories from much longer ago can always be found on our History & Archive pages
Parish Facebook
In order to be able to keep parishioners informed whenever Father Jim makes any communications or when the website is updated with newsletters etc we have created a Parish Facebook page.
If you have a facebook account please visit and like the page so that you will then be automatically notified whenever this website is updated otherwise please visit this page periodically to check for any updates
For those parishioners without a facebook account I have embedded a feed from it below so everyone will be able to access the latest 5 postings to the page
(Please note not all browsers will display the feed)
