The Bishop of Portsmouth is the Ordinary of the

Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth is a Latin Church Roman Catholic diocese that covers the Channel Islands as well as parts of England (Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of Berkshire, Dorset and Oxfordshire). The episcopal see is St ...

in the

Province of Southwark The Catholic dioceses in Great Britain are organised by two separate hierarchies: the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and the Catholic Church in Scotland. Within Great Britain, the Catholic Church of England and Wales has five ecclesia ...

, England.''Diocese of Portsmouth''
at GCatholic.org.com. Retrieved on 14 June 2011. The bishop's official residence is Bishop's House, Bishop Crispian Way,

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

. The current bishop is

Philip Egan Philip Anthony Egan (born 14 November 1955) is a prelate of the Catholic Church and serves as the eighth Bishop of Portsmouth. Early life Egan was born in Altrincham, a suburb of Manchester. He was educated at St Ambrose College, a boys' gra ...

, who was ordained bishop at St John's Cathedral, Portsmouth, on 24 September 2012, the Feast of

Our Lady of Walsingham Our Lady of Walsingham is a title of Mary, mother of Jesus venerated by Catholics, Western Rite Orthodoxy, Western Rite Orthodox Christians, and some Anglicans associated with the Marian apparitions to Richeldis de Faverches, a pious English peo ...

. Bishop Egan was previously the

Vicar General A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

for the

Diocese of Shrewsbury The Roman Catholic Diocese of Shrewsbury is a Roman Catholic diocese in the Province of Birmingham which encompasses the pre-1974 counties of Shropshire and Cheshire in the North West and West Midlands of England. The diocese includes rural are ...

and his appointment was announced by the Holy See on 11 July 2012. The

bishop emeritus In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

is the Right Reverend

Crispian Hollis Roger Francis Crispian Hollis (born 17 November 1936, in Bristol) is the Bishop Emeritus of Portsmouth for the Roman Catholic Church. Early life Crispian Hollis' parents were Christopher Hollis (1902–1977), the author and parliamentarian, an ...

, the 7th bishop of Portsmouth, who was appointed on 6 December 1988. He reached retirement age (75) in November 2011, and retired as Bishop on 11 July 2012 upon his successor's appointment. Bishop Hollis acted as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Portsmouth from 11 July 2012 until Bishop Egan's ordination on 24 September 2012.

History

In 1688 the Portsmouth area came under the authority of the

Vicar Apostolic of the London District The Apostolic Vicariate of the London District was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created in 1688 and was disso ...

. On the restoration of the Catholic hierarchy in England and Wales in 1850 Portsmouth became part of 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 ...

. On 19 May 1882 the

was created, and consists of the counties of

and

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, together with Berkshire and Oxfordshire south of the River Thames, plus the Isle of Wight and the Channel Islands.

List of the Catholic bishops of Portsmouth

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bishop Of Portsmouth (Catholic) Roman Catholic bishops of Portsmouth,