David John Leyburn Richardson (born 1946) is an Australian

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

priest, former cathedral dean and director of the

Anglican Centre in Rome Anglican Centre in Rome is an ecumenical organisation that is dedicated to improving relations between the Anglican Communion and the Roman Catholic Church. It was founded in 1966 with the encouragement of Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, ...

Early life and ministry

David Richardson was born in

Townsville The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, but spent most of his childhood in England in

North Devon North Devon is a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Devon, England. Its council is based just outside Barnstaple, the district's largest town. The district also includes the towns of Ilfracombe, Lynton and Lynmouth and Sout ...

and then the

Midlands The Midlands is the central region of England, to the south of Northern England, to the north of southern England, to the east of Wales, and to the west of the North Sea. The Midlands comprises the ceremonial counties of Derbyshire, Herefor ...

where his father worked as a priest. He finished his schooling in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. After studying

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

, Richardson studied

theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...

at St Barnabas College in

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

. He was ordained deacon in 1970 and priest in 1971 in the

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

of Brisbane and served in parishes in Maryborough and

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in Suffolk, England. It is the county town, and largest in Suffolk, followed by Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds, and the third-largest population centre in East Anglia, ...

. Richardson returned to the United Kingdom in 1975 to undertake a postgraduate diploma in

pastoral theology Pastoral theology is the branch of practical theology concerned with the application of the study of religion in the context of regular church ministry. This approach to theology seeks to give practical expression to theology. Normally viewed as ...

at the

University of Birmingham The University of Birmingham (informally Birmingham University) is a Public university, public research university in Birmingham, England. It received its royal charter in 1900 as a successor to Queen's College, Birmingham (founded in 1825 as ...

. He served a

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' () of souls of a parish. In this sense, ''curate'' means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy who are ass ...

at the

Church of St Mary the Great, Cambridge St Mary the Great is a Church of England parish and university church at the north end of King's Parade in central Cambridge, England. It is known locally as Great St Mary's or simply GSM to distinguish it from " Little St Mary's". It is one of ...

, the civic and university church of

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, while also working as chaplain at

Girton College Girton College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college was established in 1869 by Emily Davies and Barbara Bodichon as the first women's college at Cambridge. In 1948, it was granted full college status by the univ ...

at the university from 1976 to 1979. He then returned to St Barnabas’ College as sub-warden where he taught

New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...

studies,

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

and pastoral care and

spirituality The meaning of ''spirituality'' has developed and expanded over time, and various meanings can be found alongside each other. Traditionally, spirituality referred to a religious process of re-formation which "aims to recover the original shape o ...

until 1982. He was then appointed rector of Christ Church in

St Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

, Brisbane.

Cathedral dean

In 1989, Richardson was appointed as the dean of St Peter's Cathedral,

, where he served for 11 years before becoming the dean of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral, formally the Cathedral Church of St Paul the Apostle, is an Anglican cathedral in London, England, the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London in the Church of Engl ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, in 1999. At St Paul's, he led a multimillion-dollar public appeal to restore the cathedral's

spire A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spire ...

s and improve the interior of the building. His contribution is commemorated by the carved stone

sculpture Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...

of his head by Melbourne artist Smiley Williams on the exterior of the cathedral's central 'Moorhouse' spire. On his departure from St Paul's in 2008, the

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

awarded him the title of Dean Emeritus. This honour recognised "his ministry in two metropolitan cathedrals (Adelaide and Melbourne) for the past two decades, his marvellous achievement in restoring the building of St Paul’s Cathedral, and his ministry which built up the attendances and finances in Melbourne". Wider church Richardson was for 10 years the clerical representative for Australia on the

Anglican Consultative Council The Anglican Consultative Council (ACC) is one of the four "Instruments of Communion" of the Anglican Communion. It was created by a resolution of the 1968 Lambeth Conference. The council, which includes Anglican bishops, other clergy, and lait ...

(1992–2002). He was also a member of the Anglican Church of Australia's General Synod (1988-2007) and its standing committee (1989-2007). For 25 years he was a member of the Australian National Liturgical Commission (1982-2004) and was its executive secretary for 15 years (1985-2004). As a member of the commission, he was one of the authors of ''

A Prayer Book for Australia The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the title given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The first prayer book, published in 1549 in the r ...

'' (1995). Richardson also participated in Australian and international Anglican-Catholic

ecumenical Ecumenism ( ; alternatively spelled oecumenism)also called interdenominationalism, or ecumenicalismis the concept and principle that Christians who belong to different Christian denominations should work together to develop closer relationships ...

bodies including the Australian Consultation on Liturgy and the Malines Conversations Group.

Anglican Centre in Rome

In December 2007, Richardson was appointed as the representative of the

Archbishop of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the Primus inter pares, ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the bishop of the diocese of Canterbury. The first archbishop ...

Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet, who served as the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury from 2002 to 2012. Previously the Bishop of Monmouth and Archbishop of W ...

, to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

and the director of the Anglican Centre in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. He was installed in this position by Archbishop Williams in May 2008 at a ceremony in the Church of Santa Maria sopra Minerva. During his tenure he played key roles in the 2008

Lambeth Conference The Lambeth Conference convenes as the Archbishop of Canterbury summons an assembly of Anglican bishops every ten years. The first took place at Lambeth in 1867. As regional and national churches freely associate with the Anglican Communion, ...

, the first state visit of a pope to the UK in 2010 (

Pope Benedict XVI Pope BenedictXVI (born Joseph Alois Ratzinger; 16 April 1927 – 31 December 2022) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 19 April 2005 until his resignation on 28 February 2013. Benedict's election as p ...

) and visits of the Archbishop of Canterbury to the Vatican in 2009 and 2012. He hosted the first visit of a head of state to the centre (

Australian prime minister The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister is the chair of the Cabinet of Australia and thus the head of the federal executive government. Under the principles of responsibl ...

Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd (born 21 September 1957) is an Australian diplomat and former politician who served as the 26th prime minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010 and June to September 2013. He held office as the Leaders of the Australian Labo ...

) in 2009. Richardson was also an official Anglican delegate to the inauguration of

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

in March 2013. He retired in April 2013 and was succeeded by Archbishop

David Moxon Sir David John Moxon (born 6 September 1951) is a New Zealand Anglican bishop. He was until June 2017, the Archbishop of Canterbury's Representative to the Holy See and Director of the Anglican Centre in Rome. He was previously the Bishop of ...

Honours and awards

Richardson has been a chaplain of the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem (

Order of St John The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem, commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), is a Catholic military order. It was founded in the crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem in the 12th century and had headquarters there u ...

) (ChStJ) since 1996. He was installed as an honorary provincial

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

Canterbury Cathedral Canterbury Cathedral is the cathedral of the archbishop of Canterbury, the spiritual leader of the Church of England and symbolic leader of the worldwide Anglican Communion. Located in Canterbury, Kent, it is one of the oldest Christianity, Ch ...

in June 2010 and since 2013 remains an honorary provincial emeritus canon. He was appointed an

officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours (UK) for services to strengthening relations between the UK, the Anglican Communion and the Holy See. Richardson was appointed an

officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AO) in the 2016 Australia Day Honours for distinguished service to religion and to the Anglican Church of Australia, through international representational, ecumenical development and interfaith co-operation roles.

References

External links

Anglican Centre in Rome website

St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne website

St Paul's Cathedral Adelaide website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richardson, David 1946 births People from Townsville Living people 20th-century Australian Anglican priests 21st-century Australian Anglican priests Chaplains of Girton College, Cambridge Chaplains of the Order of St John Alumni of the University of Birmingham University of Queensland alumni Officers of the Order of Australia Officers of the Order of the British Empire Deans of Melbourne Deans of Adelaide