Bernard Nicholas Ward (4 February 1857 – 21 January 1920) was an English

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 served in 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 ...

as the

Bishop of Brentwood The Bishop of Brentwood is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood in the Province of Westminster, England. Overview The diocese covers the historic county of Essex, an area of comprising the non-metropolitan county of Essex, t ...

from 1917 until his death in 1920. He was "a distinguished educationalist and the foremost historian of English Catholicism of his generation."

Life

Born at

Old Hall Green Old Hall Green is a hamlet in Hertfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census the population was included in the civil parish of Standon. In 1793, an academy, St. Edmund's College, Ware, was established there which provided a school for Catholic b ...

, Hertfordshire on 4 February 1857, 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 var ...

to the priesthood on 8 October 1882. In 1917, the Diocese of Brentwood was created from the Archdiocese of Westminster. Ward was appointed the

Apostolic Administrator An Apostolic administration in the Catholic Church is administrated by a prelate appointed by the pope to serve as the ordinary for a specific area. Either the area is not yet a diocese (a stable 'pre-diocesan', usually missionary apostolic admi ...

and

Titular Bishop A titular bishop in various churches is a bishop who is not in charge of a diocese. By definition, a bishop is an "overseer" of a community of the faithful, so when a priest is ordained a bishop, the tradition of the Catholic, Eastern Orthodox a ...

Lydda Lod ( he, לוד, or fully vocalized ; ar, اللد, al-Lidd or ), also known as Lydda ( grc, Λύδδα), is a city southeast of Tel Aviv and northwest of Jerusalem in the Central District of Israel. It is situated between the lower Shephe ...

on 22 March 1917. His consecration to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained clergy member 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 of dioceses. The role or offic ...

took place on 10 April 1917, 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 Church ...

was Cardinal

Francis Bourne Francis Alphonsus Bourne (1861–1935) was an English prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as the fourth Archbishop of Westminster from 1903 until his death, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1911. Biography Early life Francis ...

, Archbishop of Westminster, and the principal co-consecrators were John Francis Vaughan, Auxiliary Bishop of

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

and Joseph Butt, Auxiliary Bishop of

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buck ...

. Three months later, Ward was appointed the first

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 ...

of the Diocese of Brentwood on 20 July 1917. Ward was known as something of a railway buff "...when writing to his clergy, the Bishop would always include details of the most convenient train times for reaching a particular event to which he had invited them.""Westminster's 'Daughter Diocese' Celebrates its Centenary", Diocese of Westminster
/ref> He died in office on 21 January 1920, aged 63, and is buried in the chapel of St Edmund's College, Ware, where he had served as President.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Bernard 1857 births 1920 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England People from East Hertfordshire District Roman Catholic bishops of Brentwood