Richard Edward Pain (born 21 September 1956) is a retired Anglican

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 ...

. From 2013 to 2019, he served as

Bishop of Monmouth The Bishop of Monmouth 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 the Cathedral Church of Saint Woolos in Newport, which ...

in the

Church in Wales The Church in Wales ( cy, Yr Eglwys yng Nghymru) is an Anglican church in Wales, composed of six dioceses. The Archbishop of Wales does not have a fixed archiepiscopal see, but serves concurrently as one of the six diocesan bishops. The pos ...

Early life

Pain was born on 21 September 1956. He completed degrees at

Bristol University The University of Bristol is a Red brick university, red brick Russell Group research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Society of Merchant Venturers, Merchant Venturers' sc ...

and

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. He trained for ordination at St Michael's College, Llandaff.

Ordained ministry

Pain served his

curacy A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''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 w ...

Caldicot, Monmouthshire Caldicot ( cy, Cil-y-coed) is a market town and community in Monmouthshire, Wales. The town is located between Chepstow and the city of Newport. The site adjoins the Caldicot Levels, on the north side of the Severn Estuary. The population of th ...

. He was then Curate in Charge then

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English pr ...

Cwmtillery Cwmtillery () (population 2011. 4800) is a ward of Abertillery. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it is part of the administrative area of the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, Wales. Etymology The name of the ward me ...

and Six Bells before moving to

Risca Risca ( cy, Rhisga) is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. Risca has a railway station, opened on the Ebbw Valley Railway in February 2008, after a gap of 46 years. It is s ...

, and finally to

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. ...

. He served as Archdeacon of Monmouth from 2008 to 2013.

Episcopal ministry

He was elected

on 23 July 2013. Having accepted the position, he was

consecrated Consecration is the solemn dedication to a special purpose or service. The word ''consecration'' literally means "association with the sacred". Persons, places, or things can be consecrated, and the term is used in various ways by different grou ...

on 21 September at

Llandaff Cathedral Llandaff Cathedral ( cy, Eglwys Gadeiriol Llandaf) is an Anglican cathedral and parish church in Llandaff, Cardiff, Wales. It is the seat of the Bishop of Llandaff, head of the Church in Wales Diocese of Llandaff. It is dedicated to Saint Pe ...

and enthroned at

Newport Cathedral Newport Cathedral (Welsh; ''Eglwys Gaderiol Casnewydd''), also known as 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 i ...

on 18 October. He was the 10th Bishop of Monmouth. In January 2019, the

South Wales Argus The ''South Wales Argus'' is a daily tabloid newspaper published in Newport, South Wales. ''The Argus'' is distributed in Newport, Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire, and Torfaen. History The paper was founded as the ''South Wales Argus ...

revealed that Pain had not performed any of his episcopal duties since July 2018. He was undergoing a "formal process of mediation": this was due to a "personality clash between the bishop and some of his staff", rather than relating to a serious or criminal matter. Pain retired on 30 April 2019, due to ill health.

Personal life

Pain is married. He and his wife have had three children together, one of whom died in 2008 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

References

External links

Bishop Richard's Biography
1956 births Alumni of the University of Bristol Bishops of Monmouth Living people Alumni of Cardiff University Alumni of St Michael's College, Llandaff Archdeacons of Monmouth {{UK-bishop-stub