Meryvn Alban Alexander (29 June 1925 – 14 August 2010) was the Bishop of the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton The Roman Catholic Diocese of Clifton is a Roman Catholic diocese centred at the Cathedral Church of Saints Peter and Paul in Clifton, England. The diocese covers the City and County of Bristol and the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire ...

from 1974 to 2001. He was born on 29 June 1925 in Highbury, London, the eldest son of William and Grace Alexander. In 1926 the family moved from London to

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, Wiltshire.

Education/priesthood

He began his education at

Bishop Wordsworth's School Bishop Wordsworth's School is a Church of England boys' grammar school in Salisbury, Wiltshire for boys aged 11 to 18. The school is regularly amongst the top-performing schools in England, and in 2010 was the school with the best results in the ...

in Salisbury. He later attended

Prior Park College Prior Park College is a mixed Roman Catholic public school for both day and boarding students. Situated on a hill overlooking the city of Bath, Somerset, in southwest England, Prior Park has been designated by Historic England as a Grade I li ...

, Bath, then run by the Irish Christian Brothers. He trained for the priesthood at the

Venerable English College The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English College, ...

, Rome and was ordained Priest on 18 July 1948 in the Leonine College, Rome. He continued his theological studies at the

Pontifical Gregorian University The Pontifical Gregorian University ( it, Pontificia Università Gregoriana; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana,) is a higher education ecclesiastical school ( pontifical university) located in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as ...

, Rome, and obtained his Doctorate in Divinity in 1951. Returning to England he was appointed curate in the Pro-Cathedral parish where he served from 1951 to 1964. He acted as Chaplain to the Bristol Maternity and Homeopathic Hospitals. He also became part-time Chaplain to the

University of Bristol , mottoeng = earningpromotes one's innate power (from Horace, ''Ode 4.4'') , established = 1595 – Merchant Venturers School1876 – University College, Bristol1909 – received royal charter , type ...

in 1953 and was appointed full-time Chaplain in 1964. During this time he opened the University Catholic Chaplaincy which continues to serve students today. In 1967 he was appointed as Parish Priest of Our Lady of Lourdes, Weston-Super-Mare, until he was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Clifton on 25 April 1972, and, on 20 December 1974, the 8th Bishop of Clifton.

Posts

In addition to his work in the diocese he held a number of national posts. He was a member of the Vatican Secretariat for Non-Believers (1973 to 1983), and Chairman of the National Commission for Non-Believers (1973 to 1983), Vice-Chairman of the Liturgy Commission (1977 to 1983), and also Episcopal President of the Catholic Child Welfare Council (1976 to 1983). In 1982 he was Chairman of the committee concerned with spiritual preparation for the visit of

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

to England and Wales. He was Chairman of the Committee for Art and Architecture from 1983 until 1999, as well as Episcopal Adviser to Marriage Encounter from 1980. He presided at a Diocesan Synod which took place from 1987 to 1988. From the early 1990s until 1999, Bishop Alexander was the Patron of the

Catholic Association Pilgrimage The 'Catholic Association'' of the UK, abbreviated to the CA, has been around in one form or another since 1881 and ran its first pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1901. Its objects are set out in the Memorandum and Articles but its main purpose is to mast ...

Hospitalité. During 1996, Alexander organised a panel to review the

Neocatechumenal Way The Neocatechumenal Way, also known as the Neocatechumenate, or NCW (colloquially, The Way or Neo-Cats) is an association of the Christian faithful within the Catholic Church. It was formed in Madrid in 1964 by Kiko Argüello and Carmen Hern� ...

and later banned the organisation within the Clifton Diocese. In February 2001 Bishop Alexander was recognised by the

for his contribution to the life of the City and the University and was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Laws (LLD). The commendation speech was given by the then Bishop of Bristol, Right Reverend

Barry Rogerson Barry Rogerson (born 25 July 1936) was the first Bishop of Wolverhampton from 1979 to 1985 and, from then until his retirement in 2002, the Bishop of Bristol. He holds Honorary degrees from Bristol & the West of England Universities. He was made ...

. In 1985 he was decorated by Commander's Cross of

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta ( pl, Order Odrodzenia Polski, en, Order of Restored Poland) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievement ...

(polish government-in-exile).

Retirement

He was succeeded as Bishop of Clifton by Bishop Declan Lang on 28 March 2001. On retiring as Bishop of Clifton he served as Parish Priest of St Joseph's,

Weston-super-Mare Weston-super-Mare, also known simply as Weston, is a seaside town in North Somerset, England. It lies by the Bristol Channel south-west of Bristol between Worlebury Hill and Bleadon Hill. It includes the suburbs of Mead Vale, Milton, Oldmix ...

. Bishop Mervyn died on 14 August 2010 at St Angela's Home, Clifton, at the age of 85.

References

External links

Diocese of Clifton websiteCatholic Church in England and Wales website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Mervyn 1925 births 2010 deaths English College, Rome alumni 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England People educated at Bishop Wordsworth's School People associated with the University of Bristol People from Salisbury Clergy from Wiltshire 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Commanders with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta British expatriates in Italy Roman Catholic bishops of Clifton