John Patrick Crowley (born 23 June 1941 in Newbury,

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

) is a retired

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

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 ...

Diocese of Middlesbrough The Roman Catholic Diocese of Middlesbrough is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic diocese based in Middlesbrough, England and is part of the province of Liverpool. It was founded on 20 December 1878, with the splitting of the Diocese of Beverley which ...

, who carries the honorary title of

Bishop Emeritus In the Catholic Church, a bishop is an Holy Orders, ordained Minister (Catholic Church), minister who holds the fullness of the Sacraments of the Catholic Church, sacrament of Holy orders in the Catholic Church, holy orders and is responsible ...

. He was ordained a priest in 1965, and, as secretary to Cardinal

Basil Hume George Basil Hume OSB OM (2 March 1923 – 17 June 1999) was an English Catholic bishop. He was a monk and priest of the English Benedictine monastery of Ampleforth Abbey and its abbot for 13 years until his appointment as Archbishop of West ...

, was appointed an auxiliary bishop, as titular Bishop of Tala, for the

Archdiocese of Westminster The Catholic Diocese of Westminster is an archdiocese of the Latin Church of the Catholic Church in England. The diocese consists of most of London north of the River Thames and west of the River Lea, the borough of Spelthorne (in Surrey), and t ...

, in 1986. In this post he had particular oversight of the diocese's parishes in Central London. On 3 November 1992 he became the 6th Bishop of

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. Crowley delivered the homily at the requiem for Cardinal Hume in Westminster Cathedral in June 1999. In June 2001 Crowley agreed to celebrate

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

at a service of thanksgiving for a 25-year

homosexual partnership Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituti ...

between two Catholics, but withdrew at the last minute after a telephone call from

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor Cormac Murphy-O'Connor (24 August 1932 – 1 September 2017) was a British Cardinal (Catholic Church), cardinal, the Archbishop of Westminster and president of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He was made cardinal by Pope ...

, who reportedly asked him not to attend. There was further controversy in 2005 when, during a radio interview, Crowley expressed the hope that married priests might be allowed in the Church within his lifetime.Catholic Herald: Bishop of Middlesbrough retires 10 years early because of ill health, 11 May 2007
/ref> His resignation from his post ten years before the customary date, which he said was due to the toll of pressures of leadership in a particularly challenging era for the Church, was accepted by the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of R ...

in accordance with canon 401 para. 2 of the 1983 Code of Canon Law ("because of illness or some other grave reason") in May 2007.Vatican Information Service, 3 May 2007
/ref> he was based in the parish of

Our Lady of Lourdes Our Lady of Lourdes (french: Notre-Dame de Lourdes) is a title of the Virgin Mary. She is venerated under this title by the Roman Catholic church due to her apparitions that occurred in Lourdes, France. The first apparition of 11 February 1858, ...

, in Wanstead, LondonHomily by Crowley at the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes

References

External links

COMECE Entry (in German)
1941 births Living people Roman Catholic bishops of Middlesbrough 20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in England 21st-century Roman Catholic bishops in England {{UK-RC-bishop-stub