Hugh Christopher Budd (27 May 1937 – 1 April 2023) was a British Roman Catholic prelate who served as the 8th Bishop of Plymouth.

Early life and education

Born in

Romford Romford is a large List of places in London, town in east London, east London, England, located northeast of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Havering, the town is one of the major Metropolitan centres of London, metropolitan centr ...

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

(now East London), United Kingdom, to John and Phyllis Mary Budd, he was educated at St Mary's Primary School, Hornchurch and at St Ignatius College, Stamford Hill. Budd studied at

Cotton College Cotton College was a Roman Catholic boarding school in Cotton, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It was also known as ''Saint Wilfrid's College''. The school buildings were centred on Cotton Hall, a country house used by religious communities fr ...

, a minor seminary, before moving to St Thomas' Seminary, Grove Park, and completing his studies at the Venerable English College in Rome in 1962. Budd was ordained a priest in Rome on 8 July 1962 for service in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood The Diocese of Brentwood () is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic church in England. The diocese is a suffragan of the Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster. Overview The diocese covers the traditional county of Essex, an area of 3,959 km2 ...

. Budd was studying at the

Venerable English College The Venerable English College (), commonly referred to as the English College, is a Catholic seminary in Rome, Italy, for the training of priests for England and Wales. It was founded in 1579 by William Allen on the model of the English Colleg ...

during the sitting of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

, which would later shape his episcopal ministry.

Priestly ministry

After ordination, Budd continued studying to become a Doctor of Theology, and was a tutor in Theology at the Venerable English College until 1971. In 1976, he became a theology lecturer at Newman College, and was appointed rector of St John's Seminary, Wonersh, in 1979. He remained in this post for six years, before becoming an administrator at

Brentwood Cathedral The Cathedral of St Mary and St Helen is a Catholic cathedral in Brentwood, Essex, England. It is the seat of the Diocese of Brentwood. History Brentwood Cathedral began in 1861 as a parish church built in a Gothic style. This relatively smal ...

, until he was appointed as Bishop of Plymouth to succeed Bishop Cyril Restiaux by

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 ...

Episcopal ministry

Budd was appointed Bishop of Plymouth on 19 November 1985 and received episcopal ordination on 15 January 1986. He would be the Bishop of Plymouth for 28 years, during which time he was influenced by the Second Vatican Council and its message of ecumenism. Whilst bishop, Budd served as a member of the Department for Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales, as well as Director of the Catholic Agency for Social Concern between 2002 and 2010. His successor, Mark O'Toole, was appointed on 9 November 2013 by

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 ...

Later life and death

In retirement Budd split his time between

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis ( ) is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and ...

in Dorset and

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly ( ; ) are a small archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is over farther south than the most southerly point of the British mainland at Lizard Point, and has the souther ...

. Budd died from cancer at his home in

, on 1 April 2023, at the age of 85. His funeral took place on 5 May 2023, at

Sacred Heart Church, Exeter Sacred Heart Church is a Roman Catholic Parish church in Exeter, Devon, England. It is a part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth. It was built from 1883 to 1884 and designed by Leonard Stokes. It is situated on the corner of South Street ...

, with Archbishop John Wilson of Southwark presiding. He was buried at

Buckfast Abbey Buckfast Abbey forms part of an active Benedictine monastery at Buckfast, near Buckfastleigh, Devon, England. Buckfast first became home to an abbey in 1018. The first Benedictine abbey was followed by a Congregation of Savigny, Savignac, later ...

on the same day.

References

External links

1937 births 2023 deaths People from Romford 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England Bishops appointed by Pope John Paul II Roman Catholic bishops of Plymouth English College, Rome alumni {{UK-RC-bishop-stub