Birmingham Oratory

About this place

The Birmingham Oratory is an English Catholic religious community of the Congregation of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri located in the Edgbaston area of Birmingham. The community was founded in 1849 by the blessed John Henry Newman the first house of that congregation in England. Part of the complex of the Oratory is the Parish Church of the Immaculate Conception, commonly referred to as the Oratory Church. It now also serves as the national shrine to Newman. In common with a colleague from the Oxford movement and fellow convert Frederick William Faber he had felt drawn to the way of life of the community founded by St. Philip Neri in Italy in the 16th century. When Newman went to Rome in 1845 to become a Catholic priest he was authorised by Pope Pius IX to establish a community of the Oratory in England. A more suitable location was eventually located in Birmingham and construction was begun of a residence and church.