The Jesuits will hand over the running and administration of the Sacred Heart Church in Wimbledon to the Archdiocese of Southwark in a year’s time.
The announcement was made last Sunday to a stunned congregation.
The Society of Jesus Provincial Fr Dermot Preston has written a letter to the parish and will preach next Sunday.
He said: “To regain a degree of flexibility for response to the new challenges, the British Jesuits will need to hand over a number of our present commitments to other ministers, and I feel that it is right now to start the process of handing-over our Wimbledon parish to the Archdiocese.”
The church built in 1887 on Edge Hill, and a landmark from the railway, was founded by the Jesuits and enjoys a large congregation which includes many influential people.