About

The Anglican Church of
Holy Cross

Palermo, Sicily, ITALY

Diocese in Europe

In the heart of Palermo there is a small British architectural treasure, a Late-Victorian church built by British merchants in Sicily in the 19th century: the Anglican Church of Holy Cross. It is the centre of Anglicanism in the community of Palermo and is in an area which developed between 1880 and 1910 on the corner of via Roma (parallel to the city’s main shopping street) and via Mariano Stabile (leading down to the harbour), yet within walking distance of the historical centre.

THE CONGREGATION

There are 34 people on the electoral roll and usually between 30 and 40 in the congregation each Sunday. Although these numbers swell considerably on certain occasions on the church calendar such as Christmas and Easter. The congregation is made up of multinational, mixed denomination regulars, as well as visitors and tourists. Members of the congregation are aged between 30 and 97.
On a Sunday morning and in the absence of a chaplain one of the churchwardens leads us in Morning Prayer. Common Worship (in contemporary English) is used for all of our services.

WORSHIP

Holy Communion
On Sundays we worship God in a 10.30am service of Holy Communion. The church is also open on Thursday mornings for Holy Communion from 9.30 to 10 a.m., remaining open for visitors until noon.

Occasional Offices

The number of weddings and Blessings is growing, with occasional baptisms, rarely funerals.

Music

On Sundays the service is accompanied by our organist, Michele Calò or Giovanni Cammalleri. The hymns and their beautiful music are considered an essential ingredient of our worshipping of God. A choir is formed for our hugely popular Christmas Carol Service every year, some of whose members sing as part of the congregation during the rest of the year. Once a week a group of us – nicknamed The Not Quite Choir – get together to informally practice the hymns for Sunday worship.

Governance and Church Officers

The Church Council has 7 elected members and 1 ex-officio members including the two Churchwardens, Deborah (Debbie) Halliday and Matthew (Jai) Phippen who are also the Synod Representatives. Debbie is also the Safeguarding Officer. Pietro Valenti is our Treasurer. Church Council meetings are held at regular intervals to discuss and decide on church matters. It is chaired by the Chaplain or by one of the Churchwardens in the absence of a permanent Chaplain. The Archdeacon of Italy and Malta is the Venerable Canon David Waller who is available for support and advice.

Ecumenical and Interfaith Relationships

Our presence in Palermo has been consolidated by the positive and fruitful ecumenical and interfaith relationships, with for instance the Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Waldensians, Focolari (a Catholic lay movement), Jews and Muslims. The Lutherans and members of a small Sri Lankan Christian group hold worship at Holy Cross, too. The Knights Templar occasionally use the church for their Chapter..

Our profile has been raised by our active involvement with the very strong Ecumenical movement here in our city. Our open-mindedness and open-door ‘meet and greet’ policy have aided us in encouraging new members to join us for worship.

In the past, only a few tourists came to Sunday worship, but these numbers have been increasing thanks to our website www.chiesaanglicanapalermo.it, and social media, encouraging independent visitors. The Vie dei Tesori Foundatio now includes us in their itinerary to places of interest in Sicily held in October and November every year which provides welcome funds for our church and has literally put us on the map. Thanks go to local hotels and tour guides being informed of our presence and times of worship, resulting in even more visitors come to Sunday services.

Special Events

Although we only have a relatively small congregation, we manage to have a fairly full calendar of regular social events: after Maundy Thursday service a visit of the Sepolcri, Mothering Sunday Lunch, Bring & Share lunches, Songs of Praise (favourite hymns), Wednesday evening ‘choir practice’, a Book Sale twice a year, Punta Raisi Day (a day spent in the countryside), the Christmas Bazaar, the Carol Service, the newly introduced May Fair. Our church is sometimes used for concerts, exhibitions and recitals upon request. Bonds of friendship and genuine Christian caring mean that casual passers-by coming into our church frequently comment on the feeling of prevailing spiritual quiet, calm and peace.