Queens University Belfast St Mary’s Parish, Belfast transformed the long vacant Berry Street building into a brand new church run coffee shop.
Named the ‘Foggy Brew’ the shop will fund outreach initiatives locally and abroad through a church support partnership in Gaza and the West Bank. Among the arsenal of products being sold, one is Palestine Cola, which the proceeds of will go towards supporting Catholic parishes in occupied Palestinian territories.
The café itself is managed by parish member John Hanvey and run by parish volunteers. Talking to The Irish News, St Mary’s Chapel PP Fr Timothy Bartlett said “We’re not interested in making money. We just want to cover costs and maybe generate a little bit of revenue for our collaboration with Palestine, but also for our different projects here.”
The café will contribute alongside the parishes of west Belfast to support Palestinian Catholic parishes, marking the official link between the Diocese of Down and Connor and the local churches in occupied territories.