The Catholic Police Guild was formed on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, Thursday 11 June 1914, by Monsignor Martin Canon Howlett, the Administrator of Westminster Cathedral. He later became the Guild’s first President. In 1923, Mgr Howlett established the tradition of an annual Requiem Mass for members at Westminster Cathedral, which continues to this day.
On the Guild’s 25th anniversary in 1939, a processional banner dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was blessed. Membership variously waxed and waned over the years, reducing especially in the 1960s. In response, in 1974 the Guild expanded across England & Wales, encapsulating various other local Guilds. Today, the Guild is structured in regions, with London being the largest. There is a sister Guild in Northern Ireland, and other similar organisations abroad.
In 2023, with the kind permission of Fr Alan Robinson, Corpus Christi, Maiden Lane became the home of the Catholic Police Guild in London. The processional banner from 1939, a highly notable devotional of Catholic revival in England, hangs on the west wall above the Confessional.
The Shrine is a stone’s throw from Charing Cross Police station, one of the largest and most significant in London. The First Monday Mass in the Shrine is offered for the intentions of the Catholic Police Guild in London.
Whilst the Guild is principally for those working in, or retired from, policing, policing itself is intimately connected to society at large. When Sir Robert Peel created his ‘Peelian Principles’ in 1829, he included:
“7. To maintain at all times a relationship with the public that gives reality to the historic tradition that the police are the public and that the public are the police, the police being only members of the public who are paid to give full-time attention to duties which are incumbent on every citizen in the interests of community welfare and existence.”
Whether or not you have a direct connection with policing, when you visit the Shrine please pray for peace in society, the role of policing in general, and the role of Catholics in policing in particular.
The Catholic Police Guild accepts membership for those who have or do with in policing, and have a separate affiliated membership for others. You can find out more at www.catholicpoliceguild.co.uk
