Lister Tonge, AKC (born 23 December 1951) is a Roman Catholic priest and former British

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 ...

vicar. He was

Dean of Monmouth Newport Cathedral (), also known as Gwynllyw, St Gwynllyw's or St Woolos' Cathedral, is the cathedral of the Diocese of Monmouth within the Church in Wales, and the seat of the Bishop of Monmouth. Its official title is Newport Cathedral Church o ...

from 2012 until the style of the post was changed to Dean of Newport in 2018. He retired as Dean in 2020.

Early life and education

Tonge was born on 23 December 1951 in

Oldham Oldham is a town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amongst the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers River Irk, Irk and River Medlock, Medlock, southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative cent ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

, England. He was educated at Heywood Grammar School,

Salford Grammar School Salford Grammar School was a grammar school for boys in Salford, founded in 1904. From 1969, it was known as Salford Grammar Technical School. It was disestablished in 1973, with the coming of comprehensive education. History The school was est ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

and

Loyola University Chicago Loyola University Chicago (Loyola or LUC) is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1870 by the Society of Jesus, Loyola is one of the largest Catholic Church, ...

. He is the second child of Edward Tonge and Dorothy Tonge (née Clough).

Ordained ministry

Tonge 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 ...

as an Anglican in 1975. After 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 Liverpool Parish Church he was

Precentor A precentor is a person who helps facilitate worship. The details vary depending on the religion, denomination, and era in question. The Latin derivation is ''præcentor'', from cantor, meaning "the one who sings before" (or alternatively, "first ...

of Johannesburg Cathedral from 1978 to 1979. From then until 1991 he was a member of the

Community of the Resurrection The Community of the Resurrection (CR) is an Anglican religious community for men in England. It is based in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and has 14 members as of April 2023. The community reflects Anglicanism in its broad nature and is strongl ...

. He was then resident

Chaplain A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secular institution (such as a hospital, prison, military unit, intellige ...

to the Community of St John the Baptist until his appointment as

Dean Dean may refer to: People * Dean (given name) * Dean (surname), a surname of Anglo-Saxon English origin * Dean (South Korean singer), a stage name for singer Kwon Hyuk * Dean Delannoit, a Belgian singer most known by the mononym Dean * Dean Sw ...

. He, alongside Archdeacons Jonathan Williams and Ambrose Mason, raised grievances - which they termed "concerns about the well-being" - against the

Bishop of Monmouth The Bishop of Monmouth (Welsh: ''Esgob Mynwy)'' is the diocesan bishop of the Church in Wales Diocese of Monmouth. The episcopal see covers the historic county of Monmouthshire with the bishop's seat located at Newport Cathedral (commonly k ...

Richard Pain Richard Edward Pain (born 21 September 1956) is a British Roman Catholic priest and former Anglican prelate who served as Bishop of Monmouth in the Church in Wales from 2013 to 2019. In June 2023, it was announced he would join the Catholic Churc ...

. Despite an internal investigation which determined that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with a formal disciplinary tribunal and finding "there was no case to answer", the three men remained unsatisfied. Tonge, Williams and Mason then wrote a letter to the Archbishop, John Davies, and all Welsh bishops expressing how unhappy they were with the outcome. A process of mediation was then put into place, they withdrew from this in December 2018 when a press release from the Church in Wales seemed to confirm the breakdown-in-relationships rumours. Bishop Pain later retired on ill health. The Archbishop, who would not take questions from clergy, claimed in a meeting that the three senior clerics had behaved properly throughout. He retired as Dean in 2020. Following his conversion to Catholicism, he was ordained a Roman Catholic transitional Deacon on 13 December 2023 at St Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Everton by Archbishop Malcolm McMahon OP, Archbishop of Liverpool. He was ordained priest by Archbishop McMahon on 13 July 2024 at the Metropolitan Cathedral.

References

1951 births Living people People educated at Heywood Grammar School People educated at Salford Grammar School Alumni of King's College London Associates of King's College London Loyola University Chicago alumni Deans of Monmouth People from Oldham {{UK-RC-clergy-stub