A special mass has been held at St Marie’s Cathedral in Sheffield for the family of a 15-year-old boy who was fatally stabbed at a Catholic school yesterday.
Harvey Willgoose, who was a pupil at All Saints Catholic High School in Sheffield, has been described as a "lovely lad" who "brought joy and laughter to everyone who knew him".
A 15-year-old pupil has been arrested on suspicion of his murder.
The Roman Catholic Bishop of Hallam, Rt Rev Ralph Heskett, is asking parishes in the Diocese of Hallam to celebrate a mass for Harvey and his family and the school over the next few days. People are also being urged to light a candle in Harvey’s memory.
Fr Christopher Posluszny, Dean of St Marie's Cathedral in Sheffield, told Premier how the church is supporting the community at this time.
“Our thoughts very much are about the young boy who has lost his life and the family as well. It's absolutely unthinkable what they're going through at this moment. And I think the same is true of the school itself and a lot of the pupils in the school.”
Fr Christopher said that a scheduled confirmation class went ahead yesterday shortly after the incident, with some of the school pupils in attendance.
“About 20 of the young people came, although some felt too distressed to come.
“But we took them into the church and one of the simple things we did at that point - we didn't know Harvey's name and had no image of him – we lit a simple candle on the altar, and the young people came in. They sat in silence for a while, and just one by one came up and lit a candle and spent a few moments in silent prayer. And then we said a prayer at the end.
“There wasn’t a single murmur. It was total silence. We almost called it a sacred silence. There was nothing that could be said. There were no words to express. There were some tears there. There was a lot of anxiety, where people just came up and silently lit that candle and remembered Harvey and just placed him in God's hands.”
The church is supporting All Saints Catholic High School and the bishop has been to visit the staff. Fr Christopher said that help will be offered to everyone affected and that there will be opportunities for prayer, care and assistance.
He said it was a “tremendous shock” that something like this could happen, especially at All Saints Catholic High, which he described as having good staff-pupil relationships and a happy environment.
He added that the school had hosted discussions about knife crime and was doing all it could to make pupils aware of its dangers.
“Unfortunately, it has hit Sheffield. It's a tremendous shock because I go into that school regularly - no sign of anything like that.”
The victim was formerly a pupil at Saint Joseph's in Handsworth and Fr Christopher says help is also being offered to staff there.
He also asked people to light a candle “because sometimes a lit candle shining just gives hop". He continued: " For us in the Christian context, it speaks about Christ, the light that enlightens darkness and brings hope, and sometimes just that simple gesture and just placing our anxieties, our worries, just before God, in the hands of Christ, even if we don't know many prayers.”