rcdhn

Our Lady & St. Wilfrid, Blyth and St. Cuthbert, Cowpen Roman Catholic Churches

RCDHN
Hugh Lindsay
bish_lindsey
Hugh Lindsay 2
Bishop Ambrose Griffiths
Bishop ambrose
Bishop ambrose 2

Our Diocese & History...

Hexham and Newcastle Diocese

Hexham and Newcastle Diocese comprises the counties of Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham and that part of Cleveland North of the River Tees. Our Diocese is a large Diocese and it is divided into five Pastoral Areas. Some of our Parishes are clustered into Parish Clusters or "families" and are served by a Team Ministry.

Our Patrons are Our Blessed Lady Immaculate and St Cuthbert.

Our Diocece Administrator is Canon Seamus Cunningham, until suchtime as the Holy Father appoints a new Diocese Bishop.

Some of the famous places in our Diocese include Holy Island or LIndisfarne, the Angel of the North, the Penshaw Monument and the Tyne and Millennium Bridges.

Our Diocesan Cathedral, St Mary's Cathedral in Newcastle, is a Grade I listed building designed by Augustus Welby Pugin.

On one side of our Diocese is a beautiful coastline. We have many important sea ports, and the Apostleship of the Sea is very active in our Diocese in its ministry to seafarers.

Each year we have a Diocesan Pilgrimage to Lourdes which is always an important and memorable Diocesan occasion.

About the life of St. Cuthbert

St Cuthbert is the patron of our diocese. He was born about 634 and legend tells us that as a boy he used to tend sheep on the mountain-sides near the monastery of Melrose and in the year 651, while watching his sheep, he saw in a vision the soul of St. Aidan carried to heaven by angels, and inspired by this became a monk.

Eventually he became prior at Lindisfarne where he spent much time in evangelizing the local people.

He wanted more solitude and time for contemplation so went for a short while first to either St Cuthbert's Isle (off Holy Island) or as some biographers suggest St Cuthbert's Cave in Northumberland.Eventually he moved to the Inner Farne, where he lived in solitude and peace for a while.

St Cuthbert's Isle off Lindisfarne

While St Cuthbert was on St Cuthbert's Isle he would pray for long times at night on the shores of the sea in all weathers and seasons.The sea otters would come and sit at his feet warming them in the freezing North Eastern weather. He is well known for conversing with the local ducks who would flock around him. He also made rosaries from the fossil crinoids washed up on the sea shore. To this day these crinoids (still washed up locally) are known as St Cuthbert's Beads.

He is recognised as one of the world's earliest wildlife conservationists and the Eider Duck is known locally as the Cuddy Duck or Cuthbert Duck in his memory.

Eventually he left Holy Island and the Inner Farne when he was called back to active service as Bishop of Hexham in 684. He returned to Inner Farne and died there on 20 March, 687.
 
St. Cuthbert was buried in his monastery at Lindisfarne, and his tomb immediately became celebrated for remarkable miracles. After his death, the Lindisfarne Gospels were written in his honour.

When the Vikings destroyed Lindisfarne in 875, his remains were removed and finally laid in a Saxon church in Durham in 995. The magnificent Durham Cathedral was built on the Saxon site and his tomb may still be seen there.

A new St Cuthbert's Way long distance footpath connects Melrose to Holy Island.

St Cuthbert's feast is kept on the 20th of March.

Bishops Emeriti

 
 

Bishop Hugh Lindsay

Born June 20, 1927
Died 19th January 2009

Appointed Bishop of Diocese, December 12, 1974. Retired January 11, 1992 Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle 1974 - 1992

Hugh Lindsay (20 June 1927 – 19 January 2009) was a bishop of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales.

Hugh Lindsay was born in Newcastle upon Tyne on 20 June 1927. He was educated at St Cuthbert's Grammar School, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Ushaw College, Durham. After priestly ordination, he worked in a variety of roles in the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle, most notably as secretary at Bishop's House.

In 1969 Pope Paul VI appointed him Auxiliary Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle and titular Bishop of Cuncacestre. Bishop Lindsay was episcopally ordained at St. Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 11 December 1969. He continued to assist the then Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, Bishop James Cunningham, until the latter resigned the diocese in 1974. Lindsay was subsequently appointed to succeed Bishop Cunningham on December 12, 1974, when he took possession of the Diocese as Ordinary and bishop in his own right.[citation needed]

On June 10, 1977, Pope Paul VI appointed Owen Swindlehurst, another priest of the diocese, to assist Bishop Lindsay as Auxiliary Bishop and titular Bishop of Cuncacestre. The two worked together until Bishop Lindsay resigned the See on grounds of ill health. His resignation was accepted by Pope John Paul II on 11 January 1992.

Bishop Lindsay assisted the Archbishop of Liverpool, Derek Worlock, at the Episcopal Ordination of his successor, Bishop Ambrose Griffiths, on March 20, 1992. Until his death, Bishop Lindsay took up residence in the Diocese of Lancaster and continued to be an active member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Bishop Ambrose Griffiths OSB

Born 4th December 1928
Died 14th June 2011

Appointed Bishop of of Diocese 11th January 1992. Retired Friday 26 March 2004.

Dom Ambrose Griffiths, OSB, KC*HS (4 December 1928 – 14 June 2011) was a Roman Catholic bishop of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, and a Benedictine abbot.

Born Michael Griffiths in Twickenham, Middlesex, and educated at Ampleforth College, near York, and at Balliol College, Oxford, he entered the monastery at Ampleforth, taking the religious name of Ambrose, and was ordained to the priesthood on 21 July 1957. In 1976, following the appointment of Abbot Basil Hume as Archbishop of Westminster, Dom Ambrose was elected Abbot of Ampleforth, a post he held until 1984 when he became Parish Priest of Leyland, Preston, Lancashire (Archdiocese of Liverpool), when he received the title of Abbot of Westminster.

In 1991 Bishop Hugh Lindsay announced his intention to resign the See of Hexham and Newcastle on the grounds of ill health. His resignation was accepted by Pope John Paul II, who in turn appointed Abbot Ambrose Griffiths as eleventh Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle. He received episcopal ordination in St. Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle upon Tyne, on 20 March 1992, the feast of St. Cuthbert, co-patron of the diocese. The principal consecrator was Archbishop Derek Worlock of Liverpool, who was assisted by retiring Bishop Bishop Hugh Lindsay and Bishop Owen Swindlehurst, Auxiliary Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle and titular Bishop of Cuncacestre.

Auxiliary Bishop Swindlehurst died on 28 August 1995 and was not replaced, leaving Bishop Griffiths to administer the diocese without the assistance of any auxiliary. He implemented a number of changes to the structure of the diocese in order to ease transition to a new model of administration, and these measures included appointing new Vicars General to assist the Bishop. Throughout his tenure, Bishop Griffiths worked closely with young people, establishing a Youth Mission Team in the diocese and representating young members of the faithful in the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

He served as leader of the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle for twelve years until he himself submitted his resignation to the Pope, having reached the age limit for bishops of 75 years, prescribed in the Code of Canon Law. His resignation was accepted and he retired on 25 May 2004. Among his final duties, he presided at the episcopal ordination of his successor as diocesan bishop, Kevin Dunn, on the same date, the feast of St. Bede the Venerable. Griffiths retired to St Mary's parish in Leyland, Preston, Lancashire and continued in his work as a member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

He died in the afternoon of 14 June 2011, aged 82.