The Oxford Oratory Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga (or Oxford Oratory for short) is the Catholic parish church for the centre of Oxford, England. It is located at 25 Woodstock Road. The church is presently served by the Congregation of the Oratory.
St. Aloysius' was originally founded as the Jesuit (Society of Jesus) parish of central Oxford. Completed in 1875, the building of St. Aloysius' was an important step in the on-going refoundation of a Roman Catholic presence in Oxford. The parish was served by notable members of the Society for many years - including Gerard Manley Hopkins. The Church also housed a notable collection of relics bequeathed by Hartwell de la Garde Grissell, many of which were destroyed in the 1970s.
In the 1980s, the Jesuits left the church and the parish was taken over by the Archdiocese of Birmingham. In 1990, the Archbishop of Birmingham invited members of the Birmingham Oratory to take over the running of the parish and found a new Oratorian community in Oxford. Two priests from Birmingham arrived in September 1990 and, in 1993, the Oxford Oratory was established as an independent Congregation.
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