Paul James Mason (born 6 November 1962) is an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Christian clergy who is an ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which means 'carry before', 'be set above or over' or 'pre ...

of the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, who previously served as Episcopal Vicar in the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Southwark with responsibility for the County of Kent and the Medway Unitary Authority. He is now the Ordinary of the

Bishopric of the Forces The Bishopric of the Forces (in Great Britain) is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church which provides chaplains to the British Armed Forces based in the United Kingdom and their overseas postings. It is directly exempt ...

Early life and education

Mason was born on 6 November 1962 in

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

, England. He was educated at St Anselms RC High School, North Shields. He undertook studies for the priesthood at the

English College, Rome 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 Colleg ...

where he completed his STB as well as a Licentiate in Philosophy. He also received an MA from King's College London in Medical Law and Ethics.

Ordained ministry

Mason was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform ...

to the priesthood on 25 July 1998. His first pastoral appointment was from 1998 to 2001 in

Purley, London Purley is an area of the London Borough of Croydon in London, England, south of Charing Cross, with a history going back at least 800 years. It was originally granted as an estate from holdings at Sanderstead and until as a district of Surrey a ...

. After this he was Senior Chaplain to

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust of the English National Health Service, one of the prestigious Shelford Group. It runs Guy's Hospital in London Bridge, St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo, Evelina London Child ...

from 2001 to 2012. Mason then took up the role of Pastoral Director at

Allen Hall Seminary Allen Hall Seminary, often abbreviated to Allen Hall, is the Roman Catholic seminary and theological college of the Province of Westminster at 28 Beaufort Street in Chelsea, London, in the London Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is situated ...

as well as Diocesan Director of Ongoing Formation of Priests. In 2014 he was appointed as Episcopal Vicar for parishes in Kent and the Medway area.

Episcopal ministry

On 23 April 2016, Mason was appointed an Auxiliary Bishop in the

Diocese of Southwark The Diocese of Southwark is one of the 42 dioceses of the Church of England, part of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The diocese forms part of the Province of Canterbury in England. It was created on 1 May 1905 from part of the ancient Dio ...

Pope Francis Pope Francis ( la, Franciscus; it, Francesco; es, link=, Francisco; born Jorge Mario Bergoglio, 17 December 1936) is the head of the Catholic Church. He has been the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 13 March 2013. ...

with the title of Titular Bishop of Skálholt, and ordained bishop at St George's Cathedral, Southwark, by Archbishop Peter Smith, on 31 May 2016. He continued overseeing the parishes in Kent and the Medway area. On 9 July 2018, Mason was appointed Ordinary of the

,Pope Francis appoints Bishop Paul Mason as Bishop of the Forces
, 9 July 2018 and took canonical possession of his see during the installation Mass in his

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

on 12 September 2018.

Return of the Lady of Luján statue

On 30 October 2019, Paul Mason was involved with the return of the

Our Lady of Luján Our Lady of Luján ( es, Nuestra Señora de Luján) is a celebrated 16th-century statue of the Virgin Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The image, also known as the Virgin of Luján ( es, Virgen de Luján), is on display in the Basilica of Luján in ...

statue which was captured during the Falklands War back to Argentina In exchange for the return of the statue, Bishop

Santiago Olivera Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...

of the Argentine Forces gave Mason an exact replica for Britain to keep. Both statues also received the blessing of Pope Francis, who oversaw the exchange as it took place in the Vatican. Pope Francis, who is Argentine, also agreed to commemorate the soldiers of both the UK and Argentina who died during the conflict. Olivera also described the gesture with Mason as "a sign of fraternity." Mason has also made plans to visit Argentina and the Basilica of Lujan in February 2020.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mason, Paul 1962 births Living people Alumni of King's College London People from North Shields 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Roman Catholic bishops of the Forces English Roman Catholic bishops