Hello everyone and welcome to another episode of ChurchMapped. Today we’ll be in London, England to review St Aloysius Church. But before we begin you might be wondering who we are? ChurchMapped is a travel company that specialises in churches across the world and is also a social network too. If you’re curious about what we do, be sure to head over to ChurchMapped.com for more information! We also have a music, dating, jobs and games service as well. St Aloysius Church sits in a part of London known as Somers Town, right beside Euston station. The church takes its name from St. Aloysius, a young Italian born in the 16th century to an important family known as the House of Gonzaga. He was the oldest child out of seven. His name wasn’t actually Aloysius but Luigi; Aloysius is merely the Latin version of his Italian name. As a member of the aristocracy, he was expected to join the military. But from the age of seven he experienced a loftier call, which would ultimately culminate in him joining the Jesuits against opposition from his friends and family members. We spoke about the Jesuits in one of our earlier travel guides, namely, Farm Street Church which is also in London, England. . .do check it out too. St. Aloysius did many great things, though sadly his life was cut short at the tender age of 23 after tending to an ill man during a plague and contracting the same illness the man had. He was made a saint in 1726 by Pope Benedict XIII (13th). He is the patron saint of young people. Like other churches we’ve looked at in our travel guides – be it the Cathedral of Saint Paul in Minnesota, United States, Cologne Cathedral in Cologne, Germany or even right here in London with the Church of St. Anselm and St. Cecilia. . .do spend the time to check those amazing travel guides out once you’re done with this – the church that sits here isn’t the first church. Oh no, not at all. The history of St Aloysius’ church dates back to 1799, where a certain French cleric by the name Abbe Carron, who had decided to emigrate to Britain from France in order to flee the tumultuous French Revolution, decided to open a small chapel in the London area, but of it little is known. A more permanent church was opened in Somers Town on the 8th April 1808 and is usually designated the name “the Old Church” among attendees of the present St Aloysius Church today. Abbe Carron left a huge impact on the area in London: apart from laying the foundation of St Aloysius Church, he also helped establish places that cared for the poor, wrote a book, to name just a few things. He returned to France in 1814, and died in the country in 1821. He left the church as well as surrounding schools he helped to establish to a certain Fr Nerinckx. He is commemorated here in the church. He was a Belgian priest who fled the country following the French Revolution which resulted in the French army invading Belgium in 1797. He came to England in 1799 and was the priest for the parish until 1832. He shouldn’t be confused with the slightly more famous Fr. Charles Nerinckx, who also fled Belgium following the French Revolution but set out to the United States. They were in fact brothers, but yup, totally different men. Totally. In 1820, a woman by the name of Marie Madeleine-d’houet founded a group – or what is known as an order – called the Faithful Companions of Jesus. She wanted to expand the group outside of France and was told England would be a great place to do it. She couldn’t actually speak English so one of her friends arrived to England with her. It was just in the nick of time as Fr Nerinckx was looking for an order to take over the schools established by Abbe Carron. In 1830, this was granted. Marie Madeleine d’houet herself returned to France the following year in 1831 and died in the country in 1833. She is now regarded by the Catholic Church as “Venerable” - a few steps just below a saint. Fast-forward to the 20th century and the church was badly damaged by the Second World War – like many churches we’ve covered, such as St. George’s Church in Cologne, Germany as well as Cologne Cathedral itself in Cologne, Germany. There was much need for it to be repaired, and so a certain Fr. Arthur Welland went about to establish a new church. The new church was finally opened in 1968 after considerable effort, and it still stands to this day. It is known as a hub for events, particularly among the young, much like St. Aloysius himself, eh? Let’s take a look around. The church has a number of stained glasses and what might be considered “modern art”. The church received an apostolic blessing from St. John Paul II, in 1983. Curiously, the church has an interesting relationship with Venezuela. Guess what that is? Well, Venezuela, under the presidency of former President to the country Dr. Rafael Caldera acquired the baptismal font of old church. The reason why is because it was rather significant: it was the font used to baptise the children of the hugely influential 19th century Venezuelan-Chilean humanist and diplomat Andres Bello. That’s it for this episode of ChurchMapped! If you are curious for more, do consider watching our travel guide on St. Peter’s Italian Church, which is not too far from St. Aloysius Church. Also consider giving our travel guide on Westminster Cathedral a heads up too. If you are curious about what we do, be sure to visit www.churchmapped.com for more information. Don’t forget to subscribe to us here on YouTube, follow us on Twitter, and give us a like on Facebook. Until next time!