Bishop
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...
Augustine Harris (27 October 1917 – 30 August 2007) was a Roman Catholic
Bishop of Middlesbrough
The Bishop of Middlesbrough is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough in the Province of Liverpool, England.
The diocese covers an area of of the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire together with ...
and former Auxiliary Bishop of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
.
Thomas Augustine Harris was born in
West Derby
West Derby ( ) is an area of Liverpool, Merseyside, England, in the east of the city. At the 2011 Census, the population was 14,382.
History West Derby
Mentioned in the ''Domesday Book'', West Derby achieved significance far earlier tha ...
, a suburb of
Liverpool
Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
, and was educated at St. Cecilia's Primary School and St. Francis Xavier's College, both in Liverpool. In 1933, he went to the Liverpool Archdiocesan Seminary at
St Joseph's College, Upholland (which is no longer in existence), to study for the priesthood. On 30 May 1942, he was ordained by Archbishop Downey.
After six months as a curate at
St Oswald's Church, Old Swan, Liverpool, he then served at St Elizabeth's, Litherland (1943 to 1952), and then as Chaplain at
Walton Prison. During his time at St Elizabeth's he had an active Y.C.W. group and was chaplain to the local Catholic Social Guild. He was the English representative to the International Council of Senior Roman Catholic Prison Chaplains from 1957 to 1966.
He was a member of the Vatican Delegation to the
United Nations' Quinquennial Congress on Crime in
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
(1960) and Stockholm (1965). Throughout his life, Bishop Harris maintained a personal interest in criminology and published a number of articles in this field.
On 11 February 1966, Augustine Harris was consecrated Bishop of Socia and Auxiliary Bishop of Liverpool by Archbishop
George Beck in the crypt of the then unfinished
Metropolitan Cathedral. A few months later Archbishop Beck had a severe heart attack, so the new bishop had to carry the administration of the largest archdiocese in the country, and the preparations for the imminent opening of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Harris was the principal consecrator of the Cathedral during Archbishop Beck's infirmity. As the first Roman Catholic Cathedral to be built in the 20th century in England, the event attracted international importance; it was featured on European TV.
On 20 November 1978, Msgr. Harris was appointed as
Bishop of Middlesbrough
The Bishop of Middlesbrough is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough in the Province of Liverpool, England.
The diocese covers an area of of the counties of the East Riding of Yorkshire and North Yorkshire together with ...
. It was
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
's first episcopal appointment in the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
. Among his many projects in Middlesbrough diocese, Bishop Harris carried out a major reorganisation of Catholic schools and established four diocesan pastoral centres which have responsibility for assisting the renewal of parish community life. As Bishop, he produced pamphlets including ''This Decade is Forever'' for the Decade of Evangelisation, and ''Serve the Lord with Gladness'' (his own personal motto) as a reflection of his years in the priesthood.
Bishop Harris acted very much in the ecumenical spirit engendered by Vatican II. While in Liverpool there were instances of his approval of Catholic priests assisting at the baptism of children of mixed confessional identity in Anglican churches with the baptism then registered of parish churches of both confessions.
He consecrated Middlesbrough's Cathedral in 1998 which incorporated many of his suggestions to the architect on the church design. In 1980 he promoted a free monthly diocesan newspaper, ''
The Catholic Voice'', which, as of 2023, continues to be published and distributed.
Bishop Harris served as liaison Bishop between the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and the Prison Department at the Home Office, was Episcopal Moderator to the Federation Internationale des Associations Medicales Catholiques (1967 to 1976), and was President of the Commission for Social Welfare (1972 to 1984). He was Episcopal Chairman of the Commission for Radio and Television, President of UNDA (the Catholic broadcasters' association) in England and Wales, and a member of CRAC, the religious advisory body for the IBA and BBC.
Bishop Harris had a variety of broadcasting experience, including a series of appearances for
Terry Wogan
Sir Michael Terence Wogan (; 3 August 1938 – 31 January 2016) was an Irish radio and television broadcaster who worked for the BBC in Britain for most of his career. Between 1993 and his semi-retirement in 2009, his BBC Radio 2 weekday brea ...
's
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the List of most-listened-to radio programs, most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 14 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the sta ...
programme in 1974. On 16 October 2003, he led a live broadcast of "Morning Worship" on
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...
to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005.
In his you ...
. In May 2007 he recorded a special half-hour programme for BBC Radio Merseyside on the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the
Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool. He was Chairman of the Department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship. In his retirement he continued to write a regular column in the ''Liverpool Catholic Pictorial''.
In January 1992, Pope John Paul II accepted Bishop Harris's resignation, tendered in anticipation of his 75th birthday in October 1992 (75 is the statutory retirement age for bishops). The resignation was accepted and Bishop Harris remained in office until his successor, Bishop John Crowley, was appointed in November 1992.
In his retirement Bishop Harris returned to his native Liverpool where he continued to serve the Church and administer the sacraments. To celebrate the 40th anniversary of his ordination as bishop, on 11 February 2006, Bishop Harris concelebrated Mass with Bishop John Crowley, his successor in Middlesbrough, and Msgr. Ricardo Morgan, at the time the Vicar General of the
Diocese of Middlesbrough, in the chapel at
Ince Blundell Hall where he has resided for the past few years.
On 22 June 2006, the formal celebration of this event was held in the
Liverpool's Metropolitan Cathedral where Bishop Harris was joined by Cardinal
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor
Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (24 August 1932 – 1 September 2017) was a British Catholic prelate who served as Archbishop of Westminster from 2000 to 2009. He was also president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made ...
, as well as, the Papal Nuncio, and twenty bishops, along with priests and lay people from the Liverpool and Middlesbrough dioceses. The homily was preached on that occasion by Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor.
In retirement Harris lived in
Formby
Formby is a town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England.
Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, three manors are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 under ...
, and later at Ince Blundell Hall, where he died on 30 August 2007, aged 89.
External links
Catholic HierarchyObituary, ''The Daily Telegraph'', 4 September 2007 Obituary, ''The Times'', 12 October 2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Augustine
1917 births
2007 deaths
Roman Catholic bishops of Middlesbrough
20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England
Roman Catholic bishops of Liverpool
Clergy from Liverpool
Prison chaplains
Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II
People from West Derby
People educated at St Francis Xavier's College, Liverpool