Francis Joseph Walmsley (9 November 1926 – 26 December 2017) was an English

prelate A prelate () is a high-ranking member of the Minister (Christianity), Christian clergy who is an Ordinary (church officer), ordinary or who ranks in precedence with ordinaries. The word derives from the Latin , the past participle of , which me ...

of the

Catholic Church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. He served as the Bishop of the Forces from 1979 to 2002. Born in

Woolwich Woolwich () is a town in South London, southeast London, England, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich. The district's location on the River Thames led to its status as an important naval, military and industrial area; a role that was mainta ...

on 9 November 1926, he was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

to the priesthood on 30 May 1953. He was appointed the Bishop of the Forces 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 an ...

of '' Tamalluma '' by 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 ...

on 8 January 1979. His

consecration Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...

to the

Episcopate A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

took place on 22 February 1979, 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 Churches ...

was Bishop Gerard Tickle, retired Bishop of the Forces, and the principal co-consecrators were Bishop Mario Conti of Aberdeen (later Archbishop of Glasgow) and Archbishop Michael Bowen of Southwark. During his term the military vicariate of the British Forces was raised to the status of a military ordinariate on 21 July 1986. He resigned as Titular Bishop of Tamalluma on 7 March 1998 and retired as Bishop of the Forces on 24 May 2002. He died on Boxing Day 2017 in Reading, and is buried in the grounds of

St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough Saint Michael's Abbey (French: ''Abbaye Saint-Michel'') is a Benedictine abbey in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. The small community is known for its liturgy (which is sung in Latin and Gregorian chant), its pipe organ, and its liturgical publ ...

.Funeral arrangements for Bishop Francis Walmsley CBE
from CatholicNews.org.uk, 3 January 2018, retrieved 31 May 2018

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Walmsley, Francis Joseph 1926 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England People from Woolwich Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Roman Catholic bishops of the Forces Burials in Hampshire