Well-wishers are being asked to buy a chicken for a leprosy care centre in Zimbabwe this Easter in memory of a Cumbrian missionary who was born 100 years ago this year and is now on the path towards sainthood. 

John Bradburne was born in Skirwith in 1921 and became a third-order Franciscan. He was murdered in what was then Rhodesia in 1979 for refusing to abandon the leprosy patients he had looked after for many years. 

Mutemwa, the leprosy settlement where he worked, has become a major pilgrimage centre. Each year on the anniversary of his death, September 5, thousands gather to hear Mass and process up the mountain where he walked and prayed. 

The John Bradburne Memorial Society (JBMS) was established in 1995 by John’s niece, Celia Brigstocke, to continue his legacy by providing financial support for the Mutemwa Leprosy Care Centre and promote his cause for beatification, given the widespread belief in his sanctity expressed by many who met him. 

On July 1 2019, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints in Rome issued a formal nihil obstat for the cause of his beatification to proceed. The letter was sent to Archbishop Ndlovu, primate of Zimbabwe, who convened a meeting of Zimbabwean bishops at which there was unanimous approval to support the cause. 

Dr Enrico Solinas, a lay judge at the Umbrian Interdiocesan Ecclesiastical Court of Perugia, was appointed postulator in 2018 and is now taking the cause forward. On September 5 2019, the 40th anniversary of John’s assassination, there was a special ceremony at Mutemwa, where the cause for his beatification was officially launched. 

Earlier this month JBMS launched a 100-day poetry project in honour of John’s life and work. In the run-up to John’s 100th Birthday on June 14, supporters will read out one of John’s poems on YouTube (search the John Bradburne Memorial Society). You can also read his poems at johnbradburnepoems.com. 

JBMS is trying to help those at the care centre this Easter by fundraising to buy chickens to be able to sustain the community with eggs, food and the ability to generate an income from selling produce.

A £25 donation will buy one chicken, food and supplies for the whole year, resulting in a gift of more than 300 eggs per chicken – the perfect Easter gift!

Please help us today to support our patients and community by gifting them a chicken this Easter time. Visit justgiving.com/campaign/giftachicken

Visit johnbradburne.com for more information about John’s life and work.