Friday 19 October 2012

New Bishop of Whitby appointed

Amid all the doubt and uncertainty in the run-up to November's General Synod vote (will there be PEVs after legislation is passed?),  a little  good news for Catholics in the Church of England: 

from the website of the Prime Minister's Office:

"The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Philip John North, MA, Team Rector of Old Saint Pancras, in the Diocese of London, to the Suffragan See of Whitby, in the Diocese of York, in succession to the Right Reverend Martin Clive Warner, MA, PhD, on his translation to the See of Chichester on the 2 July 2012.

The Reverend Philip North (aged 45), was educated at York University, and trained for the ministry at Saint Stephen’s House, Oxford. He served his curacy at Sunderland Saint Mary and Saint Peter, in the Diocese of Durham from 1992 to 1996.  Since 1997 he has been involved with the Company of Mission Priests. From 1996 to 2002 he was Vicar of Hartlepool Holy Trinity in Durham Diocese and from 2000 to 2002 he was Area Dean of Hartlepool.  From 2002 to 2008 he was Priest Administrator at the Shrine of Our Lady at Walsingham and from 2004 to 2007 he was also Priest-in-Charge of Hempton and Pudding Norton in the diocese of Norwich.  Since 2008 he has been Team Rector at Old Saint Pancras in the Diocese of London. His interests include cycling and walking."

from ITV news [here] this comment from Fr North:
"I am excited and humbled to have been appointed as Bishop of Whitby and will do my best to serve the people of the Cleveland Archdeaconry and the Diocese of York. The North East of England is very dear to my heart, having been a vicar there for many years, and it’s great to be coming back. I’m looking forward to meeting people and helping churches make the Gospel known in their communities."

But no news of an appointment to Canterbury yet... 

4 comments:

  1. Joseph Golightly19 October 2012 at 13:58

    It will be fascinating to see what he will do when he has lady bishops - that's inevitable just the timing is as yet unknown. How can you say you are a catholic when you don't think some of your validly ordained clergy (i.e. the ladies) are priests and in the future your "brother" bishops are bishops. Its an ecclesiastic mess and probably a disaster. But nobody wants to even discuss it as they just want to dress up and pretend nothing has/is/will happen

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  2. Well done, Philip.

    I feel desperately sidelined -- then again, I have horses and guns. Makes up the deficit.

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  3. worcester fragment19 October 2012 at 20:38

    Mmmmmm....but he did not get Fulham because the Southwark F in F clergy declared their opposition to that appointment..... he sponsors female candidates for ordination.... even if, in the first instance, he feels unable yet to ordain them... wait and see just how satisfactory this appointment will be for traditionalists.

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  4. Well, he at least considered converting to Catholicism, and said he publicly he would do so not through the ordinariate but in a regular diocese.

    + PAX et BONUM

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