During a Service of Solemn Vespers in St John the Baptist’s Church, Perth, Bishop Stephen Robson presented Miss Susan Cassidy with a Papal Award, Pro Ecclesia and Pontifice, in recognition of her service to the parish and the diocese.
As a child, Susan sang in the church choir at St John’s and for the past 30 years she has been its organist and choir mistress, accompanying and enriching the liturgy at Mass, at services of Reconciliation, First Communion, Confirmation, weddings and funerals.
Bishop Stephen paid tribute to Susan’s talents as a composer and arranger too. “She has a gift that combines joy and reverence.”
“Miss Cassidy has also served as the Director of Music for Dunkeld Diocese’s pilgrimages to Lourdes for over 30 years. This, combined with her lifetime’s work as a Catholic teacher, at first in Lawside Academy and St John’s High, Dundee, and then at St Columba’s High School and St John’s Academy, Perth, makes her a worthy recipient of this prestigious award; the highest award a lay person can be given.”
The service was also attended by Canon Steven Mulholland, St John’s parish priest, and Susan’s brother, Fr Mark Cassidy, parish priest at the Immaculate Conception parish in Lochee, Dundee.
Friends and family, including the church choir pictured below, attended a reception following the presentation.
