Robert Aston Coffin (19 July 1819 – 6 April 1885) was an English Redemptorist and Bishop of Southwark (25 May 1882 – 6 April 1885). Coffin was born at

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

and educated at

Harrow School (The Faithful Dispensation of the Gifts of God) , established = (Royal Charter) , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent schoolBoarding school , religion = Church of E ...

and at

Christ Church, Oxford Christ Church ( la, Ædes Christi, the temple or house, '' ædēs'', of Christ, and thus sometimes known as "The House") is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, the college is uniqu ...

( BA 1841, MA 1843). In 1843 he became

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of St. Mary Magdalene, Oxford, but resigned two years later, and was received into 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 ...

on 3 December 1845. For a year after this he resided with Ambrose Lisle Phillips at Grace Dieu manor, and then he went with

John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, where he was ordained priest in 1847. Coffin joined the

Oratory of St. Philip Neri The Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri ( la, Confoederatio Oratorii Sancti Philippi Nerii) abbreviated CO and commonly known as the Oratorians is a Catholic society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men (priests and lay-b ...

, and in 1848-9 he was provost of the Oratorian community at St. Wilfrid's, Cotton Hall,

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. He then left the Oratorians and was received into the

novitiate The novitiate, also called the noviciate, is the period of training and preparation that a Christian ''novice'' (or ''prospective'') monastic, apostolic, or member of a religious order undergoes prior to taking vows in order to discern whether ...

of the Redemptorist Fathers at

Trond Trond is a Norwegian male given name. The base of the name, Tron'r (Þróndr or Þrándr), is Old Norse and means "to grow and thrive" (þroásk)17785 peoplein Norway have Trond as their first name, making it the 23rd most used name (2008). The nam ...

in Belgium, and made his profession on 2 February 1852. In 1855 he was chosen

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of St. Mary's Church in Clapham, and in 1865 appointed to the office of Provincial Superior, in which he was successively confirmed every three years until his elevation to the

episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. From 1852 to 1872 he was mostly employed in preaching missions and giving clergy retreats throughout England, Ireland and Scotland. In April 1882

Pope Leo XIII Pope Leo XIII ( it, Leone XIII; born Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci; 2 March 1810 – 20 July 1903) was the head of the Catholic Church from 20 February 1878 to his death in July 1903. Living until the age of 93, he was the second-old ...

appointed Coffin to the

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of Southwark, in succession to James Danell. He was consecrated by Cardinal Howard in the church of St. Alfonso, on the Esquiline, at Rome, 11 June 1882, and

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St George's Cathedral, Southwark The Metropolitan Cathedral Church of St George, usually known as St George's Cathedral, Southwark, is the cathedral of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Southwark, south London, and is the seat of the Archbishop of Southwark. The cathedral is ...

, on the 27th of the following month. He died at the house of the Redemptorists at

Teignmouth Teignmouth ( ) is a seaside town, fishing port and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is situated on the north bank of the estuary mouth of the River Teign, about 12 miles south of Exeter. The town had a population of 14,749 at the ...

Works

Coffin published English translations of many of the works of Alphonso de' Liguori; and of Blosius's ''Oratory of the Faithful Soul''.

References

Catholic-Hierarchy.org
*

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coffin, Robert 1819 births 1885 deaths 19th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Roman Catholic bishops of Southwark English translators English religious writers 19th-century British writers People educated at Harrow School Alumni of Christ Church, Oxford People from Brighton Redemptorist bishops 19th-century British translators