William Paul Colton (born 13 March 1960), known as Paul Colton, is an Irish Anglican bishop. Since 1999, he has served as

Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross The Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross is the Church of Ireland Ordinary of the united Diocese of Cork, Cloyne and Ross in the Province of Dublin. The current bishop is the Right Reverend Paul Colton William Paul Colton (born 13 March 1960) ...

in the

Church of Ireland The Church of Ireland ( ga, Eaglais na hÉireann, ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Kirk o Airlann, ) is a Christian church in Ireland and an autonomous province of the Anglican Communion. It is organised on an all-Ireland basis and is the secon ...

Biography

Paul Colton attended St Luke's National School, Douglas, Cork, Cork Grammar School and Ashton Comprehensive School, Cork, before being awarded a scholarship to the

Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific Lester B. Pearson United World College of the Pacific (Pearson College UWC) is one of eighteen schools and colleges around the world in the UWC (United World Colleges) movement. It is named after the late Canadian Prime Minister Lester Bowles Pea ...

, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, where he completed the International Baccalaureate in 1978.Cork, Cloyne and Ross, diocesan website.
/ref> He studied law at

University College, Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

(part of the National University of Ireland) and was the first graduate of the university to be elected to a bishopric in the Church of Ireland. He studied theology at

Trinity College Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

. In 1987 he completed the degree of Master in Philosophy (ecumenics) at Trinity College, Dublin, and a Master of Laws at Cardiff University in 2006. His LLM thesis was on the subject of legal definitions of church membership. In 2013 he completed, and was conferred with, a PhD in law also at Cardiff University. His academic areas of interest are: church law, the law of the Church of Ireland, law within Anglicanism, the interface between the laws of religious communities and the laws of States (particularly in Ireland and Europe), human rights, education law, and charity law. In 2014 he was appointed as an honorary research fellow at Cardiff Law School of Cardiff University, and its Centre for Law and Religion. He was consecrated bishop at

Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin Christ Church Cathedral, more formally The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, is the cathedral of the United Dioceses of Dublin and Glendalough and the cathedral of the ecclesiastical province of the United Provinces of Dublin and Cashel in the ( ...

, on Thursday 25 March 1999—the Feast of the Annunciation. He was enthroned in St. Fin Barre's Cathedral, Cork on 24 April 1999, in St Colman's Cathedral, Cloyne on 13 May 1999, and in St. Fachtna's Cathedral, Ross on 28 May 1999. He officiated at the wedding of footballer David Beckham and Spice Girl Victoria Adams on 4 July 1999 at the medieval

Luttrellstown Castle Luttrellstown Castle Luttrellstown Castle, dating from the early 15th century (c. 1420), is located in Clonsilla on the outskirts of Dublin, Ireland. It has been owned variously by the eponymous and notorious Luttrell family, by the bookseller ...

on the outskirts of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

. He is married to Susan Colton, who was deputy principal of a primary school until her retirement in 2022 and they have two adult sons. He was the first Church of Ireland bishop to openly support

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...

. He is involved in education debates and in charity work. He chairs the board of directors of Saint Luke's Charity, Cork, which focuses on the elderly and dementia sufferers. He is also chairman of the board of governors of

Midleton College Midleton College is an independent co-educational boarding and day school in Midleton, County Cork, Ireland. In past centuries it has also been called Midleton School. Although founded in 1696, the school did not open until 1717. It went thr ...

. At the episcopal ordination of Bishop Fintan Gavin as Catholic bishop of Cork and Ross in June 2019, Colton presented the crozier at Bishop Gavin's own request. As of June 2020, Colton is the longest-serving bishop of Cork Cloyne and Ross since bishop William Lyon in 1617 and also the longest serving bishop still in office in the Anglican churches of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales. On 27 February 2022, Colton was the invited preacher at the Patronal Eucharist in

Lichfield Cathedral Lichfield Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in Lichfield, Staffordshire, England, one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom with three spires (together with Truro Cathedral and St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh), and the only medie ...

, to mark the 1,350th anniversary of the death of

Saint Chad Chad of Mercia (died 2 March 672) was a prominent 7th-century Anglo-Saxon Catholic monk who became abbot of several monasteries, Bishop of the Northumbrians and subsequently Bishop of the Mercians and Lindsey People. He was later canonised ...

Publications

Colton is the author of almost a dozen book chapters, mostly in the area of the interface between religion and law.

Ecclesiastical career

* Curate of Lisburn St. Paul (Connor) 1984 – 1987 * Bishop's Domestic Chaplain (Connor) 1985 – 1990 * Vicar Choral Belfast Cathedral (St. Anne) 1987 – 1990 * Minor Canon Belfast Cathedral ( St. Anne) 1989 – 1990 * Incumbent of Castleknock and

Mulhuddart Mulhuddart () is an outer suburb situated 12 km (7.456 miles) north-west of Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. The River Tolka passes near the village. Mulhuddart is also a Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in the Barony (Irelan ...

with

Clonsilla Clonsilla () is an outer suburb of Dublin in Fingal, Ireland. Clonsilla is also a civil parish in the barony of Castleknock in the historic County Dublin. Location and access Clonsilla used to be a small village in the inner western part of ...

(Dublin) 1990 – 1999 * Priest Vicar, registrar and Chapter Clerk of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin 1990 – 1995 *

Rural Dean In the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Communion as well as some Lutheran denominations, a rural dean is a member of clergy who presides over a "rural deanery" (often referred to as a deanery); "ruridecanal" is the corresponding adjective ...

of St. Mary's (Dublin) 1994 – 1999 * Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin 1997 – 1999 * Chairman Connor Youth Council 1986 – 1990 * Member of Interchurch Marriages Preparation Course 1991 – 1998 * Co-ordinator of Religious Programmes involving the Protestant Churches at Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) 1993 – 1999 * Hon. Chaplain, Actors Church Union 1994 ~ 1997 Area Chaplain (Ireland) 1996 – 1997 * Member of Central Committee, Conference of European Churches 1992 – 1997 * Church of Ireland Representative at the Porvoo Conversations and

Porvoo Communion The Porvoo Communion is a communion of 15 predominantly northern European Anglican and Evangelical Lutheran churches, with a couple of far-southwestern European (in the Iberian Peninsula) church bodies of the same denomination. It was establish ...

Contact Group 1989 – 1999 * Secretary of the Church of Ireland General Synod 1999 * Research Associate at the Centre for Law and Religion, Cardiff Law School, Cardiff University, 2006 * Member of the General Committee of the Ecclesiastical Law Society, 2006 – 2012 * Honorary Research Fellow at Cardiff University Law School, 2014

References

External links

Sermon at Lichfield Cathedral for 1,350th anniversary of the death of Saint Chad (from 28.48 onwards)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Colton, Paul 1960 births Living people Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Bishops of Cork, Cloyne and Ross People educated at a United World College People educated at Cork Grammar School Alumni of Cardiff University Clergy from Cork (city)