Ralph Heskett (born 3 March 1953, in

Sunderland, England Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

) 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 ...

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

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 'pref ...

who has been the

Bishop of Hallam The Bishop of Hallam is the ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hallam in the Province of Liverpool, England. On 20 May 2014, the Right Reverend Ralph Heskett, C.Ss.R., was appointed the 3rd Bishop of Hallam by Pope Francis. Bishop Hes ...

since July 2014, having immediately before that been Bishop of Gibraltar from 2010 to 2014.

Early life and ministry

He was educated at Saint Aidan's Grammar School, Sunderland, a Christian Brothers school, from 1964 to 1969. He was a seminarian from 1969 to 1970, where he attended the

Redemptorist The Redemptorists officially named the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer ( la, links=no, Congregatio Sanctissimi Redemptoris), abbreviated CSsR,is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men (priests and brother ...

Minor Seminary in Birmingham. He subsequently was a novice at

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. On 21 August 1971 he began his ecclesiastical studies at

Hawkstone Hall Hawkstone Hall is a early 18th-century country mansion near Hodnet, Shropshire, England which was more recently occupied as the pastoral centre of a religious organisation for many years. It is a Grade I listed building. It is currently a wedd ...

and Canterbury. He 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 va ...

as a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

on 10 July 1976 at

St Benet's Church, Monkwearmouth St Benet's Church is a Catholic church in Monkwearmouth in Sunderland. It was built in 1889 and designed by Archibald Matthias Dunn and Edward Joseph Hansom. It is located on the corner of Thomas Street North and George Street North, half a kilo ...

, Sunderland. After his ordination he worked in Scotland until 1980 and then England until 1984. From 1987 to 1990 he was Redemptorist superior and pastor of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Bishop Eton, Liverpool. From 1997 to 1999 he studied at

All Hallows College All Hallows College was a college of higher education in Dublin. It was founded in 1842 and was run by the Vincentians from 1892 until 2016. On 23 May 2014, it was announced that it was closing down, due to decreasing student numbers. The sale o ...

. Heskett was parish priest at

St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Clapham St Mary's Church, Clapham, officially Our Immaculate Lady of Victories, is a Grade II*-listed Roman Catholic church on Clapham Park Road in Clapham, South London, England run by the London province of the Redemptorist Congregation within the Ar ...

from 1999 to 2008.Rt Rev Ralph Heskett C.Ss.R
Catholic Bishops Conference, retrieved 2 October 2013

Episcopate

He was appointed the

Bishop 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 ...

of the Diocese of Gibraltar by

Pope Benedict XVI Pope Benedict XVI ( la, Benedictus XVI; it, Benedetto XVI; german: link=no, Benedikt XVI.; born Joseph Aloisius Ratzinger, , on 16 April 1927) is a retired prelate of the Catholic church who served as the head of the Church and the sovereign ...

on 18 March 2010. His

consecration Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

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 ...

took place on 10 July 2010; the principal

consecrator A consecrator is a bishop who ordains someone to the episcopacy. A co-consecrator is someone who assists the consecrator bishop in the act of ordaining a new bishop. The terms are used in the canon law of the Catholic Church, Lutheran Churche ...

was the Most Reverend

Michael George Bowen Michael George Bowen (23 April 1930 – 17 October 2019) was a British prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Southwark from 1977 to 2003, having previously served as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. Life and ministry ...

, Archbishop Emeritus of Southwark, with the Right Reverend

Charles Caruana Charles Caruana CBE (9 October 1932, Gibraltar – 1 October 2010, Gibraltar"Former ...

, Bishop Emeritus of Gibraltar, and the Right Reverend Thomas Matthew Burns, Bishop of Menevia, serving as co-consecrators. Bishop Heskett was appointed Bishop of the

Diocese of Hallam The Diocese of Hallam is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese comprises the whole of the City of Sheffield, and the surrounding towns of Rotherham, Doncaster, Barnsley, Chesterfield, ...

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. ...

on 20 May 2014, and installed in a

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different elementar ...

held on 10 July 2014.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heskett, Ralph 1953 births Living people Clergy from Sunderland 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops of Gibraltar 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Alumni of All Hallows College, Dublin Redemptorist bishops Roman Catholic bishops of Hallam English Roman Catholic bishops