Alan Williams (bishop)

Last updated


Alan Stephen Williams

SM
Bishop of Brentwood
Bishop-alan-williams-500.jpg
Church Roman Catholic Church
Province Westminster
Diocese Brentwood
Appointed14 April 2014
Installed1 July 2014
Predecessor Thomas McMahon
Orders
Ordination30 April 1983
by  George Basil Cardinal Hume
Consecration1 July 2014
by  Vincent Cardinal Nichols
Personal details
Born (1951-03-15) 15 March 1951 (age 73)
Lancashire, England
NationalityBritish
Denomination Roman Catholic
Mottosub tuum præsidium
Coat of arms Coat of arms of Alan Williams.svg

Alan Stephen Williams, SM (born 15 March 1951) is an English Roman Catholic prelate and 7th Bishop of Brentwood. He is a member of the Marist Order.

Contents

Career

Born in Lancashire in 1951, Alan Williams trained for the priesthood at Allen Hall before which he obtained a Degree in Psychology from Durham University, [1] followed by a PhD in Psychology from London University. He later earned a degree in Theology from the University of Cambridge, and a master's degree in Education from Hull University.

He made his final vows with Society of Mary (Marists) in 1981 and was ordained priest on 30 April 1983 at St Anne’s, Whitechapel. Williams served as a school teacher and as Catholic chaplain to Sheffield Hallam University. [2] He was subsequently parish priest at St Lawrence of Canterbury, Sidcup. He is a former major Superior of the Marist Fathers in England, a post he held from 2000 to 2008. [3] He has also taught Christian Spirituality at postgraduate level. Williams was Appointed Director of the Roman Catholic National Shrine at Walsingham in 2008, where he had overall responsibility for pilgrimage and retreat work. He was appointed the seventh Bishop of Brentwood 14 April 2014 and consecrated on 1 July 2014 by Cardinal Vincent Nichols. [4]

In 2003, in conjunction with the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology, Williams invited Roman Catholics who no longer regularly attended church services to get in touch so that he could listen to their perspectives. The results of his enquiry, researched by Fr Liam Hayes of the Margaret Beaufort Institute, were published in March 2024 under the title "Bishop Alan Listens". [5]

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Alan Williams
Coat of arms of Alan Williams.svg
Adopted
2014
Coronet
Galero of a Bishop
Escutcheon
Impaled; Dexter, Azure a cross flory above the three suns Or, each charged with an annulet Gules (Diocese of Brentwood). Sinister Argent three lilies Gules seeded and slipper Or, on a chief Azure a star of seven points of the third (Williams). [6]
Compartment
Cross in pale
Motto
Sub Tuum Praesidium ('Under Thy Protection')
Symbolism
The personal arms which a diocesan bishop adopts are impaled with the arms of the diocese, with the shield of the diocese on the left side (heraldic ‘dexter’) and his own arms on the right (or ‘sinister’) side which shows that he is the holder of the see. The pontifical cross behind the shield is based upon the shape of the Metropolitan Cross of Westminster from which the Diocese of Brentwood was formed. The green hat refers to that of a bishop, the number of tassels showing his rank. In the Bishop’s personal arms, the colours of the shield are based upon the arms of the Society of Mary, the Marists, (a blue chief with a gold star, over a white field bearing a Marian monogram). The three lilies are taken from both the arms of the Diocese of Lancaster, where Bishop Williams was born, and the arms of the ancient priory of Walsingham, where he was Rector. They are red to refer to the red rose of Lancaster (present in both the arms of Oldham and of the Diocese of Lancaster) and this also alluding to the Blood of the Martyrs. The three lilies are Trinitarian in number and also represent the three Diocese in which the Bishop has served as a priest and now bishop. These are impaled with the diocesan arms. The arms of the Diocese bear the cross from the shield of Saint Edward the Confessor, whose miracle of the ring and the beggar took place in Romford within the diocese and beneath this the three suns of Saint Edmund, from the arms of Saint Edmund’s College, Ware, as Bishop Bernard Ward, the first bishop of the Diocese, was born at Old Hall Green where the college stands. These suns are charged with three rings, referring to a mystical dream St Edmund received when a teacher of geometry, as a means of explaining the Holy Trinity. The Motto " Sub Tuum Praesidium " (meaning "Under Thy Protection", which comes from an ancient hymn to Our Blessed Lady) alludes to the Marist motto Sub Tuum Nomine and combines the Bishop’s own Marian devotion with that of St Edward the Confessor.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westcott House, Cambridge</span>

Westcott House is an Anglican theological college based on Jesus Lane in the centre of the university city of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. Its main activity is training people for ordained ministry in the Church of England and other Anglican churches. Westcott House is a founding member of the Cambridge Theological Federation. The college is considered by many to be Liberal Catholic in its tradition, but it accepts ordinands from a range of traditions in the Church of England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Pritchard (bishop)</span> British bishop

John Lawrence Pritchard is a Church of England bishop. He was the Bishop of Oxford from 2007 to 2014. He is in the Open Evangelical tradition.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas McMahon (bishop)</span> English Roman Catholic bishop

Thomas McMahon is an English Roman Catholic bishop. From 1980 to 2014, he was the Bishop of Brentwood; he is currently Bishop Emeritus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Zacatecas</span> Roman Catholic diocese in Mexico

The Catholic Diocese of Zacatecas is suffragan diocese to the Archdiocese of San Luis Potosí, in Mexico. Until 25 November 2006 it was a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Guadalajara, in Guadalajara, Mexico,.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood</span> Catholic diocese in England

The Diocese of Brentwood is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Westminster.

Andrew Joseph McDonald was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Little Rock in Arkansas from 1972 to 2000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Goddard (bishop)</span> British Catholic priest

John William Goddard is a British Roman Catholic priest and former Anglican bishop. From 2000 to 2014, he was Bishop of Burnley, a suffragan bishop in the Church of England's Diocese of Blackburn. He left the Church of England and was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 2021. He was ordained deacon on Tuesday 29 March 2022 and priest on Saturday 2 April 2022 by Bishop Tom Williams in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Anthony Griffin</span> Catholic bishop (born 1934)

James Anthony Griffin is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Griffin served as bishop of the Diocese of Columbus in Ohio from 1983 to 2004. He previously served as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Cleveland in Ohio from 1979 to 1983.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Dougherty (bishop)</span> American Roman Catholic prelate (1932–2022)

John Martin Dougherty was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Dougherty served as the auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Scranton in Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Joseph Keyes</span>

Michael Joseph Keyes, S.M. was an Irish-born American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of the Diocese of Savannah in Georgia from 1922 to 1935. He previously served as director of Marist College at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy Doherty</span> American Roman Catholic bishop

Timothy Lawrence Doherty is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was a priest of the Diocese of Rockford in Illinois until he was appointed bishop of the Diocese of Lafayette in Indiana by Pope Benedict XVI on May 12, 2010. On July 15, 2010, Doherty was consecrated, becoming the sixth bishop of the diocese.

Colin David Campbell is a New Zealand Roman Catholic bishop. He was the sixth bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunedin from 2004 until 2018, when he reached the retirement age of 75. He is currently the interim Rector of Holy Cross Seminary in Auckland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William J. Waltersheid</span> American Catholic bishop

William John Waltersheid is an American bishop of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania since 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Robson</span>

Stephen Robson is the retired bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Dunkeld. From 2012 to 2014 he was auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of St Andrews and Edinburgh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Jay Berg</span>

Stephen Jay Berg is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Pueblo in Colorado since 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brendan J. Cahill</span> American prelate

Brendan John Cahill is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Victoria in Texas since 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jose Francisco Oliveros</span> Filipino Roman Catholic prelate

Most Rev. Jose Francisco Oliveros, D.D. was a Filipino Roman Catholic prelate, who served as the fourth Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Malolos.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shawn McKnight</span> American prelate of the Catholic Church (born 1968)

William Shawn McKnight, also known as W. Shawn McKnight, is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop of the Diocese of Jefferson City in Missouri since 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Felton</span> American Catholic bishop

Daniel John Felton is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as bishop for the Diocese of Duluth in Minnesota since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph A. Williams</span> Roman catholic bishop

Joseph Andrew Williams is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who has been serving as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis in Minnesota since 2021. Pope Francis appointed Williams as Coadjutor Bishop of Camden on May 21, 2024.

References

  1. "Results of Final Examinations held in June 1972". University of Durham Gazette (Supplement). 19 (New Series): 10. 1972. Retrieved 17 December 2020.
  2. "Brentwood welcomes new Bishop". 8 May 2023..
  3. "Vatican Radio article"..
  4. "The Rt Rev Alan Williams - Diocese of Brentwood".
  5. Diocese of Brentwood, Diocese publishes results of ‘Bishop Alan Listens’ research report, published 13 March 2024, accessed 17 April 2024
  6. "The Bishop's Personal Coat of Arms".
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by Bishop of Brentwood
2014–
Succeeded by