Staff at Westminster Cathedral were compelled to turn away people hoping to attend Mass due to reaching full capacity over the Easter weekend.
Westminster Cathedral, which is the mother church of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and has a capacity of 3,000 people, was unable to let any more people in for its Good Friday liturgy on 29 March.
“This Easter morning our hearts are full of hope and joy – so too is this Cathedral,” said Cardinal Vincent Nichols two days later during Easter Sunday Mass.
Robert Stephenson-Padron was one of those turned away on Good Friday by staff at Westminster Cathedral.
“It’s like everybody is becoming Catholic,” he told the <em>Catholic Herald</em>. “Easter 2024 is very special. [It is the] first time I can recall since my baptism in 2006 where it seems there is a flood of new converts into the holy Catholic Church. So much so, that it appears to be widely noticed.”
Stephenson-Padron, 39, who co-founded Penrose Care to combat labour exploitation in the care sector, was awarded an OBE by King Charles III in February 2023.
“Friedrich Nietzsche is dead. King Christ the Crucified and His holy Catholic Church are alive and well!” Stephenson-Padron Tweeted in a message on <em>X</em>, accompanied by a photo of crowds attempting (in vain) to gain access to Westminster Cathedral, which went viral on the social media platform.
After being unable to gain access to the Good Friday liturgy at Westminster Cathedral, he walked nearly two miles to the historic Catholic Church of St James in Spanish Place, while listening to the service electronically on the way. When he arrived at St James’ Church, he discovered it was also full – though he was permitted to find a space standing amongst the crowds at the back.
The following day, he arrived back at the Cathedral an hour early for the Easter Vigil Mass and was able to gain a spot. He confirmed that the service also became full.
“In my UK-wide Catholic men’s group [WhatsApp] chat, it seemed like it was the same everywhere,” he told the <em>Catholic Herald</em>.
Similar surges in attendance, well beyond the sorts of levels of attendance usually expected, occurred in other parishes across the world, including in <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidAsmanfox/status/1774757613919502749"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">New York City</mark></a> and rural parts of <a href="https://x.com/wcmclassicist/status/1774968168244453590?s=20"><mark style="background-color:rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)" class="has-inline-color has-vivid-cyan-blue-color">North Carolina</mark></a>.
In his Easter homily, Cardinal Nichols reminded the brimming congregation that the Cathedral was not only full of people but also filled “with its beauty, its music, the splendour of this celebration of Mass and its fine Easter Candle representing the Risen Lord, whose resurrection from the dead we celebrate”.<br><br><em>Photo: Crowds at the entrance of Westminster Cathedral for the Good Friday liturgy, London, England, 29 March 2024. (Photo by Robert Stephenson-Padron.)</em>
