The Archbishop of Canterbury has announced that the Right Reverend Norman Banks, the Bishop of Richborough, is due to retire on Easter Sunday next year. The Bishop of Richborough is a suffragan of the Archbishop of Canterbury and one of three Provincial Episcopal Visitors (PEV) in the Church of England.
It would seem both of the previous Bishops of Richborough have become Roman Catholics after leaving the role, so it will be interesting to see what the Right Reverend gentleman does in the coming months.
A cynical person might speculate that these men wait until they have maximised their gold plated pension entitlement from the CofE before swimming the Tiber.
Fr Dean should know , as a good union man, that pensions are deferred income for work already performed. What people do after retirement is their own business,and not something to be criticised for. Lots of people get accused of having ‘gold plated’ pensions. It means nothing.
It means a great deal if you wait until you have accumulated a tidy amount of gold plating before you discover your true spiritual home.
The problem with ‘gold plated’ is that it ìs always a pejorative and rarely accurate. The àttack dogs of the right wing press call public sector pensions gold plated. My retired head teacher wife is accused of having a gold plated pension. Fr Dean doesn’t approve of flying bishops ok, that’s fine. In fact I’m not convinced he approves of any bishop judging by his many posts on the subject. I don’t know what a Bishop’s pension is. I expect its decent enough, but gold plated? I’d be surprised.
Perhaps ‘gold plated’ compared with the pension of a priest in charge?
These generalisations aren’t helpful. There are numerous possible permutations of pensions of C of E clergy. However, my understanding is that there is an ‘uplift’ for certain senior clergy, referred to as ‘multiple of basic pension’ –
The two Archbishops: multiple of 2 (additional 100%)
The Bishop of London: 1.8
All other diocesan bishops: 1.5
Suffragan bishops, deans and archdeacons: 1.25
Further details: https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-03/2023-clergy-booklet-v-1.1.pdf
Mgr Newton resigned and became a Roman Catholic in 2011, aged 59. So well before his retirement age.
Pension benefits are payable from age 55 (57 in 2028).
Hopefully, as with Beverly and Oswestry, they will appoint a youngish Bishop who will serve for many years. May God be praised for Bishop Norman’s excellent ministry
But youngish bishops can also be old fogeys.
It would be interesting to know more about the size of the constituencies of the “flying” bishops now. In my diocese it has shrunk considerably since 1993.
Wondering if/when ‘flying bishops’ might be grounded, no longer with ‘certificates of airworthiness’?
Any reports from elsewhere? And the number in training who identify as trad Catholic?
The flying bishop terrain in the Diocese of Birmingham is almost at the point of evanescence.
The Richborough website lists 100 parishes, I think Oswestry has 110.
Some of those still listed in the Oswestry website, notably two in Oxford, have clearly left the fold, unless the ‘Society’ is now happy for women to celebrate mass in its affiliated churches.
Yes indeed – St Thomas the Martyr and St Barnabas Jericho rescinded their resolution in 2023. The Independent Reviewer had something to say about the processes that were followed in doing so:
https://www.churchofengland.org/sites/default/files/2023-10/report-oxford-st-barnabas-st-paul-with-st-thomas-the-martyr.pdf