Bernard Longley

Last updated

The Most Reverend

Bernard Longley
Archbishop of Birmingham
Bernard Longley Oxford Oratory 1 2010-04-18 (cropped).jpg
Longley in the Oxford Oratory, 2010
ChurchRoman Catholic Church
Archdiocese Birmingham
Province Birmingham
Appointed1 October 2009
Installed8 December 2009
Predecessor Vincent Nichols
Previous post(s)
  • Titular Bishop of Zarna (2003–2009)
  • Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster (2003–2009)
Orders
Ordination12 December 1981
by  Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Consecration24 January 2003
by  Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Personal details
Born (1955-04-05) 5 April 1955 (age 69)
Manchester, England
NationalityBritish
DenominationRoman Catholic
Alma mater
MottoUt unum sint
(English: That they all may be one )
Coat of arms Coat of arms of Bernard Longley.svg
Ordination history of
Bernard Longley
History
Priestly ordination
Ordained by Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (Arun. & Brig.)
Date12 December 1981
Place St John's Seminary, Wonersh, England, United Kingdom
Episcopal consecration
Principal consecrator Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (Westminster)
Co-consecrators Arthur Roche (Leeds coad.)
Kieran Conry (Arun. & Brig.)
Date24 January 2003
Place Westminster Cathedral, London, England
Episcopal succession
Bishops consecrated by Bernard Longley as principal consecrator
Robert Byrne 13 May 2014
David Evans9 October 2020 [1]
Stephen Wright 9 October 2020 [1]
Source(s): [2] [3]
Styles of
Bernard Longley
Coat of arms of Bernard Longley.svg
Reference style The Most Reverend
Spoken style Your Grace
Religious style Archbishop

Bernard Longley KC*HS (born 5 April 1955) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was named the Archbishop of Birmingham on 1 October 2009, and installed on 8 December 2009.

Contents

Early life and ministry

Bernard Longley was born in Openshaw, Manchester, and was educated at St Vincent de Paul parish school, then at Xaverian College in Rusholme. He later studied at the Royal Northern College of Music and New College, Oxford, where he served as Treasurer of the Oxford Union in 1977. [4] He then was in formation for the priesthood at St John's Seminary, Wonersh where he was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton on 12 December 1981. [5] He then served as an assistant priest at St. Joseph's Church in Epsom and as a chaplain to psychiatric hospitals. [4]

Longley became Surrey Chairman of Diocesan Commission for Christian Unity in 1991, and National Ecumenical Officer at the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales in 1996. [4] From 1987 to 1996, he taught dogmatic theology at St. John's Seminary in Wonersh. In 1999, he was named Moderator of the Steering Committee of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, as well as Assistant General Secretary of Catholic Bishops' Conference with responsibilities for Ecumenism and Interfaith Affairs. [4]

Episcopal career

Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster

On 4 January 2003, Longley was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Zarna by Pope John Paul II. [5] He commented that he was "greatly honoured" and "very much overwhelmed" by his appointment. [6] He received his episcopal consecration on the following 24 January from Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor of Westminster (who had ordained Longley priest 22 years earlier), with Coadjutor Bishop Arthur Roche of Leeds and Bishop Kieran Conry of Arundel and Brighton (Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor's successor in that see) serving as co-consecrators. [5]

In 2007, Longley played a prominent role in the integration of the independent Soho Masses Pastoral Council, [7] a group that sponsors Masses for homosexual Catholics, into the Archdiocese. [8] [9] The Bishop helped to form an agreement that moved the group's liturgies from an Anglican parish to a Catholic church (the Church of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Gregory), as well as a statement on ministry to homosexual Catholics that, while following Catholic teaching on homosexuality, underscored that "the Church's pastoral outreach recognises that baptised persons with a homosexual inclination continue to look to the Church for a place where they might live in authentic human integrity and holiness of life." [8] In a BBC interview, Longley said that "it's never been the practice of the Catholic Church, as it were, to 'means-test' people before admitting them to the celebration of the Eucharist. It would be a mistake to jump to conclusions or to generalise about anybody's particular lifestyle, or their state of grace." [8]

Longley was the head of the Diocesan Pastoral Board and had oversight of Central and East London, i.e. the Deaneries of Camden, Hackney, Islington, Marylebone, Tower Hamlets, and Westminster. [4] He is considered to be a conservative who is "friendly" to the traditional Latin Mass, [10] but also a "born diplomat." [11] His name was mentioned as a possible successor to Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor as Archbishop of Westminster and thus often considered to be the 'head' of the Church in England and Wales, [9] [10] [12] but the position ultimately went to Archbishop Vincent Nichols.

Archbishop of Birmingham

On 1 October 2009, Pope Benedict XVI appointed Bishop Longley as the Archbishop of Birmingham. He succeeded Archbishop Vincent Nichols, who was translated from Birmingham to Westminster earlier in 2009. Archbishop Longley was installed at St Chad's Cathedral on 8 December 2009, the feast of the Immaculate Conception. Before the ceremony, Archbishop Longley spoke of how much he was looking forward to joining both the Catholic and wider Christian communities in the Midlands and contributing to their work. Archbishop Longley played a leading role in the plans for the beatification of Cardinal John Henry Newman and presented the petition for canonisation to Pope Benedict XVI, which took place in Cofton Park, Birmingham on 19 September 2010 during the papal visit to the United Kingdom in September 2010. [13] [14]

On 5 January 2011, Archbishop Longley was appointed among the first members of the newly created Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelisation. [15]

Archbishop Longley is also co-chair of ARCC and has previously served as moderator of the Steering Committee of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland, as well as assistant general secretary of Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales with responsibilities for ecumenism and interfaith affairs.

On Tuesday, 18 September 2012, Pope Benedict XVI named Archbishop Longley to serve as one of the Synod Fathers for the October 2012 13th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on the New Evangelization. [16]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Egan</span> American Catholic cardinal (1932–2015)

Edward Michael Egan was an American Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Bridgeport from 1988 to 2000 and as Archbishop of New York from 2000 to 2009. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2001.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cormac Murphy-O'Connor</span> English Catholic prelate (1932–2017)

Cormac Murphy-O'Connor was a British cardinal, the Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made cardinal by Pope John Paul II in 2001. He submitted his resignation as archbishop on reaching his 75th birthday in 2007; Pope Benedict XVI accepted it on 3 April 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Archbishop of Birmingham</span>

The Archbishop of Birmingham heads the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham in England. As such he is the metropolitan archbishop of the Province of Birmingham. The archdiocese covers an area of 8,735 km2 (3,400 sq mi) and spans of the counties of Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, West Midlands, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. The see in the City of Birmingham where the archbishop's seat is located at the Metropolitan Cathedral and Basilica of Saint Chad.

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

The Diocese of Westminster is a Latin archdiocese of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne, and the county of Hertfordshire, which lies immediately to London's north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham</span> Catholic archdiocese in England

The Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in England and Wales. The archdiocese covers an area of 3,373 square miles (8,740 km2), encompassing Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and much of Oxfordshire as well as Caversham in Berkshire. The metropolitan see is in the City of Birmingham at the Metropolitan Cathedral Church of Saint Chad. The metropolitan province includes the suffragan dioceses of Clifton and Shrewsbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Liverpool</span> Catholic archdiocese in England

The Archdiocese of Liverpool is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church that covers the Isle of Man and part of North West England. The episcopal see is Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral. The archdiocese is the centre of the Ecclesiastical Province of Liverpool which covers the north of England as well as the Isle of Man.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel DiNardo</span> Catholic cardinal

Daniel Nicholas DiNardo is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the second and current archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in Texas serving since 2006. He previously served as bishop of the Diocese of Sioux City in Iowa from 1998 to 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vincent Nichols</span> British cardinal

Vincent Gerard Nichols is a British cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He previously served as Archbishop of Birmingham from 2000 to 2009. He was created cardinal in 22 February 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Timothy M. Dolan</span> American prelate of the Catholic Church (b. 1950)

Timothy Michael Dolan is an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He is the tenth and current Archbishop of New York, having been appointed by Pope Benedict XVI in 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Hopes</span> British Catholic bishop

Alan Stephen Hopes is a British Roman Catholic prelate and former Anglican priest. From 2013 to 2022 he served as the Bishop of East Anglia. He was previously appointed as an auxiliary bishop of Westminster in 2003.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Patrick Foley</span> American Roman Catholic archbishop and cardinal

John Patrick Foley was an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. From 2007 until 2011, he was Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, an order of knighthood under papal protection, having previously served as President of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications from 1984 to 2007. He was elevated to the cardinalate in 2007. He provided the commentary for the American television viewers of the Christmas Midnight Mass from St Peter's Basilica, Rome. However, in 2009, he retired from that role after 25 years. The commentary was taken over by Monsignor Thomas Powers of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut, an official in the Congregation for Bishops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Levada</span> American Catholic cardinal (1936–2019)

William Joseph Levada was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. From May 2005 until June 2012, he served as Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith under Pope Benedict XVI; he was the highest ranking American in the Roman Curia. He was previously the Archbishop of Portland in Oregon from 1986 to 1995, and then Archbishop of San Francisco from 1995 to 2005. While serving as archbishop, he was criticized for covering up sexual abuse by priests within his jurisdiction. Levada was created a cardinal in 2006 by Benedict XVI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gabino Zavala</span>

Gabino Zavala is a Mexican-born, American former prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Zavala served as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles from 1994 until 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joseph P. McFadden</span> American prelate

Joseph Patrick McFadden was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. Formerly an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he was installed as Bishop of Harrisburg on August 18, 2010. He served in that position until his death in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bernard Joseph Harrington</span> American Roman Catholic bishop

Bernard Joseph Harrington is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Diocese of Winona in Minnesota from 1999 to 2009 and as an auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit in Michigan from 1993 to 1999.

Paul Joseph Hendricks is an Auxiliary Roman Catholic bishop of the Archdiocese of Southwark and Titular Bishop of Diocese of Ross.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Richard Moth</span> British Roman Catholic prelate

Charles Phillip Richard Moth is a British Roman Catholic prelate. Since May 2015, he has served as the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. Previously, he was Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Southwark from 2001 to 2009, and the Bishop of the Forces from 2009 to 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Stack</span> Irish RC priest (b.1946)

George Stack KC*HS CStJ is a prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He was installed as the seventh Archbishop of Cardiff on 20 June 2011 and retired on 20 June 2022.

John Francis Sherrington is an auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Westminster. His appointment was announced on 30 June 2011. He had previously served as part of the clergy of the Diocese of Nottingham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marcus Stock</span> Bishop of Leeds (born 1961)

Marcus Stock is an English bishop of the Catholic Church who has been the tenth Bishop of Leeds since 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 "Two New Auxiliary Bishops for the Diocese". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham. Retrieved 20 January 2022.
  2. ↑ "Archbishop Bernard Longley". Catholic News. Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. 9 July 2015. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  3. ↑ "Archbishop Bernard Longley". St. Chad's Cathedral. Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Bishop Bernard Longley". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster . 24 February 2006. Archived from the original on 15 February 2010. Retrieved 12 March 2009.
  5. 1 2 3 "Archbishop Bernard Longley". Catholic-Hierarchy.org . David M. Cheney. Retrieved 21 January 2015.
  6. ↑ "New Auxiliary bishops appointed to Westminster". Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster . 6 January 2003. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 14 March 2009.
  7. ↑ "Soho Masses | Adult Fun Forever".
  8. 1 2 3 Palmo, Rocco (15 February 2007). "Church of the (Soho) Masses". Whispers in the Loggia.
  9. 1 2 Palmo, Rocco (12 March 2009). "The Choice?". Whispers in the Loggia.
  10. 1 2 Thompson, Damian (12 March 2009). "Bernard Longley to be Archbishop of Westminster, says leading Italian commentator". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 4 October 2009.
  11. ↑ Thompson, Damian (13 March 2009). "Congregation for Bishops 'fails to reach decision' on Westminster. What's going on?". The Daily Telegraph . Archived from the original on 29 October 2009.
  12. ↑ Gledhill, Ruth (12 March 2009). "Cardinals meet today to choose the next Archbishop of Westminster". The Times . London.[ dead link ]
  13. ↑ "Birmingham Diocese welcomes new Archbishop". Archived from the original on 5 October 2009.
  14. ↑ [ permanent dead link ]
  15. ↑ DI MEMBRI DEL PONTIFICIO CONSIGLIO PER LA PROMOZIONE DELLA NUOVA EVANGELIZZAZIONE Archived 8 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ↑ "Web Translator". www.translatetheweb.com.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
—
 Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster
2003–2009		Succeeded by
—
Preceded by Archbishop of Birmingham
2009–present		Incumbent
Preceded by— TITULAR —
Bishop of Zarna
2003–2009		Succeeded by
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.