Father Peter Haverty

Fr Peter was a particularly good student and obtained a place at Birmingham University when he was seventeen. However, he decided to stay on another year, and won a scholarship to study chemical engineering at Imperial College, London, in 1953. His mother took advantage of an open day with the Bishop of Leeds to ask for advice about suitable accommodation in London. Bishop Heenan replied that he had just received a leaflet advertising Netherhall House. His mother accepted the Bishop’s advice and Fr Peter became a resident at Netherhall in October 1953. Fr Peter later told St Josemaría Escrivá about the chain of events that led to him coming to Netherhall, and St Josemaría commented that it was God’s providence.

Fr Peter had strong memories of those first years at Netherhall, where he got to know Michael Richards, Dick Stork, Richard Planell, Fr John Galarraga, Fr James Planell, and Fr Gonzalo Gonzales. In November 1955 he asked for admission as a supernumerary member of Opus Dei during his final year at Imperial College. At that time there were only about five other supernumeraries in Britain.

On completing his studies, he started working at the Royal Ordnance factory near Bridgwater, Somerset, as a graduate apprentice. At the same time he had a day release to attend classes at Bristol College of Science and Technology, which is now the University of Bath.

During his time in Bridgwater, Fr Peter travelled up to London every month on a motorbike to Netherhall House to attend classes. On 19th March 1957 he wrote a letter asking to become an associate member of Opus Dei. He was feeling ill at the time, and Fr John Galarraga thought it prudent to wait.

On returning to Bridgwater, not wanting to waste any more time, Fr Peter posted the letter requesting to be an associate. The following year Fr Peter was asked if he would consider being a numerary member of Opus Dei. He agreed and moved to London after successfully qualifying as a mechanical engineer at Bristol College and resigning from his job at the factory.

Fr Peter arrived at Netherhall on the evening of Sunday 10th August 1958. That date stuck indelibly in his memory. Dick Stork, the director, showed him a signed picture of St Josemaría Escrivá and told Fr Peter that he had arrived in London a few days before. The following day he went to meet the saint in his house in Hampstead, accompanied by Fr James Planell, who acted as his translator. St Josemaría embraced Fr Peter and took him to the garden, walking him up and down the lawn. Fr Peter recalls that St Josemaría leant on him and spoke some prophetic words: “You have to be Peter, rock, solid, support, …” Fr Peter fulfilled this directive until the very end of his life.

Presently St Josemaría turned to Fr James and asked “¿Es este que se va a Roma?” Fr James replied “Si, Padre, pero no lo sabe.” Fr Peter could not speak Spanish very well, but he knew enough to realize that the directors wanted to invite him to be a priest and to go to Rome to study for the priesthood.

During the next few weeks Fr Peter met St Josemaría several times and recalls receiving “un fuerte abrazo” (a strong embrace).

Fr Peter set off to Rome at the end of the summer of 1958, having obtained exemption from military service with the help of Mgr Worlock, who was secretary to the Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster. Fr Peter wasn’t impressed with the idea of military service after he heard from two serving men that they spent their time painting ammunition. That didn’t sound like an effective use of time to Fr Peter. Instead he spent three years in the Roman College studying for the priesthood and retained vivid memories of the many get-togethers with St Josemaría and the meditations he heard from him. He loved to speak of these times and frequently used personal memories of St Josemaría in his preaching. He was acutely aware that he had to transmit all he knew of the saint to future generations. He didn’t hold back and selflessly shared everything.

Fr Peter would stress especially the affection and big heart of St Josemaría and how much he, and all his young colleagues, felt loved. He had many funny stories to tell, including how much St Josemaría enjoyed him singing a popular song of the time, Perry Como’s 1956 hit Hot Diggity. Another time he sang Buttons and Bows for St Josemaría and this too was very well received. He remembered with great warmth watching films with St Josemaría and the other residents on some Saturdays and holidays. Clearly his years in Rome were full of wonderful memories for Fr Peter.

Fr Peter studied at the Lateran University and obtained his doctorate in Philosophy in 1961. He moved to Spain and was ordained by Blessed José María Lahigera on 5th August 1962. He returned to England in 1963 to serve as Chaplain to the newly founded Greygarth Hall residence in Manchester. Unfortunately, there was a disagreement with the Catholic chaplain of Manchester University a few years later, and it was deemed prudent for him to move to London. This provided the opportunity for him to serve as the regional Priests’ Secretary.

Fr Peter returned to Manchester in 1976 where he lived at the newly-opened Pine Road centre. He was a pillar of the apostolate in and around Manchester for rest of his life, fulfilling his responsibility of a priest by attending to the spiritual needs of the lay members of Opus Dei and many others. His work consisted in preaching, teaching, hearing confessions and giving spiritual direction to both men and women. His unique preaching style incorporated depth, wit and great faith, mixing solid Catholic doctrine, the spirit of Opus Dei, stories about St Josemaría, the wisdom of the saints, and amusing anecdotes about his life.

During this time he tirelessly travelled to nearby towns and cities such as Aberystwyth, Bangor, Leeds, Liverpool and Mansfield to give recollections. He also preached many retreats to different people, including priests, and was actively involved in the acquisition of Thornycroft Hall in 1978. He served as Chaplain to the staff of Thornycroft Hall for many years, only standing down after he had to give up driving due to old age.

Fr Peter was particularly loved in the Diocese of Salford and served for a long time as ‘Defender of the Bond’ on the diocesan marriage tribunal. This experience of marriage problems helped develop his deep pastoral sense and wisdom, and his understanding of human weakness. He made many good friends among the local clergy. His interest in sport led him to take up golf and become quite good at it. For many years he would meet his priest friends every week for a round of golf, and one year he won the trophy for the annual priests’ golf competition. He had to give up golf as his health declined but he always kept in touch with his priest friends.

In his final years, he was particularly devoted to taking care of some of the elder Opus Dei members in his house and many people have very fond memories of the affection and attention he lavished on his good friend Ron Winstanley, with whom Fr Peter had lived for years and who in his later years suffered from serious dementia. After Ron’s death in 2020, Fr Peter took care of John Zachary, who had to move to a care home in 2021. Fr Peter would take him Communion a few times a week, even though he himself needed a mobility scooter to move around. As much as his physical limitations allowed, Fr Peter was always willing to help and with his Yorkshire character was determined to do so. He also kept close to his older sister, Hilda, after Kathleen had pre-deceased them.

Over the years, Fr Peter collected many helpful quotations from Catholic spiritual authors. In 2006 he decided to select about twenty of these and write these up with his own commentary as a collection of Insights. He did this in a hurry as he feared that he might die in an impending operation. On recovering, he decided to expand this collection and add meditations that he had given over the years in retreats. This led to a flurry of short books of spiritual insights and also thoughts on philosophy and theology. His final two works were his reminiscences of St Josemaría and a book on our Lady entitled Mary Teacher of Love.

During the COVID pandemic, Fr Peter learned how to record meditations for the benefit of those living in his house in Brookfield, but word slowly got out, and in the end his weekly meditations were being distributed far and wide. You can find some of his meditations at the end of this page. He kept up this practice even after life returned to normal. His mind remained razor-sharp, and on his very last day, Thursday 13th April 2023, he spent the morning recording a meditation on Divine Mercy in preparation for the forthcoming feast on the Sunday. While at lunch he talked of his plan to give Communion to John Zachary that afternoon, but then he fell from his chair having had a serious heart attack. The ambulance was called and Fr Joe Evans gave him the Sacrament of the sick, but he never regained consciousness and died in hospital soon afterwards.

His funeral took place on 22nd May 2023 in St Joseph’s Church, Longsight, Manchester, with the new Regional Vicar of Opus Dei, Fr Christian van der Ploeg, as the main celebrant. The church was full, and more than twenty priests concelebrated, including the Vicar General of the Diocese. He was buried in the same grave as his good friend Ron Winstanley in Manchester Southern Cemetery, and next to Pedro Ballester. May he rest in peace.