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HISTORY

St. Anne`s Church, SAPFilCA (now known as SAFILCA) and the Catholic Parish of the Royal Docks

On the 4th of December 1899, in the heart of Custom House, St. Anne`s Church was formally opened by Cardinal Vaughan. Because of its proximity to the Royal Victoria Docks, it became the focus of important apostolate and spiritual home to seafarers and local factory workers. While Custom House was described as the poorest and roughest area in the East End, St Anne`s was made an Independent Mission in 1902.

The outbreak of the World War I and World War II resulted in an economic as well as spiritual decline in the area. As one of the main Ports of Trade, Custom House suffered the full brunt of both wars.  The Docklands area was destroyed beyond recognition.  Residents were killed. Women and children had to be evacuated while those who are brave enough to stay were confronted with chaos and misery.  The Catholic Church served as the pillar of strength as its parishioners soldiered on, amid testing times, with resilience and faith.

The succeeding decades saw the Catholic population dwindle as Catholic parishioners moved on or were being re-housed elsewhere.  Ravaged by two world wars, St. Anne`s Catholic Parish, the spiritual refuge of Custom House and its people tried to rebuild their shattered lives, succumbed into debt and disrepair.   On Jan, 1976, the church was deemed unsafe and was inevitably ordered to close. Scheduled services were temporarily held at the neighbouring St.  Joachim`s School until a new St. Anne`s Church (albeit smaller) was opened by Bishop McMahon on Oct 21, 1981 with Fr. Jack Donovan as Parish Priest.

As St. Anne`s Parish headed to a new beginning, a number of Filipino parishioners became actively involved.  It has been said that when a Filipino leaves home, he brings his faith with him and the first place he seeks refuge is his Church. Therefore, it is in the spirit of friendship and bound by common faith that a group of Filipino parishioners under the leadership of Mrs Emily Dance founded SAPFilCA (St Anne`s Filipino Community) on Dec 5, 1987.

For the next several years, SAPFilCA provided a platform for Filipinos to share their time, skills and talents in any church and community endeavours. Some of them even served as school governors of St Joachim`s, a school partly funded by the Catholic Church. The organization spearheaded fundraising functions and organized numerous trips to Theme Parks and other noted tourist destinations. A sizeable percentage of the profits was given to St. Anne`s for its maintenance. The organization was strongly supported by Filipino seamen from the docks.

On June 20, 2000, Bishop McMahon amalgamated the St. Anne`s Parish with St Mark`s (Beckton) and St. John`s (Silvertown) with Fr. Aodh as parish priest. When Monsignor John Armitage, an East-ender who was born in Shadwell and brought up in Canning Town succeeded as parish priest, he re-named the triumvirate of churches into what is now known as The Catholic Parish of the Royal Docks.

The confusion brought by the amalgamation,  the loss of support from Filipino seamen due to  the closure of the docks and the departure of its founder, Mrs Dance who migrated to Scotland all contributed to the downward spiral of fortune for  SAPFilCA.  Frustrated and disillusioned by the lack of pro-activity, some founding members became less active and a sizeable number left the organization altogether. The morale within the group was so low that it threatened the mere existence of the organization if not for the persistence and belief of its oldest member, Mrs Pauline Flores with the loyal support of Mr and Mrs Andy Andres, Mr and Mrs Rey Corpuz, Mr and Mrs Jimmy Parker and Mr and Mrs Francis Umali, Mr and Mrs Mhar Flores to carry on.  With little support and with limited resources, they represented the Filipino parishioners with dignity and diligence.

The spring of 2014 herald a new beginning for the organization as new members were drafted in. Former members came back into the fold and brought their families with them.  As a new surge of confidence emanates within the group, a new set of officers were elected.  It is an enormous joy and a great inspiration for the children and parents alike to see Ms Jade Flores and Dr. Claire Andres who grew up within the realms of the organization take an active role. We hope that the gesture will encourage others to do the same.

When St. Anne`s ceased to be a Parish, the  organization decided to retain its name and just drop the word Parish- SAPFilCA is now known as SAFILCA.  With St Marks now fully owned by the Church of England and St John`s needing to be shared with the Anglicans, St Anne`s Church of Custom House is the ONLY Catholic owned church to form one of the largest parish in Brentwood, The Catholic Parish of the Royal Docks.