# Bishopric of the Forces in Great Britain

The Bishopric of the Forces (in Great Britain) is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church which provides chaplains to the British Armed Forces based in the United Kingdom and their overseas postings.
It is directly exempt to the Holy See and its Roman Congregation for Bishops and is not part of any ecclesiastical province, whilst being a full member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. The chaplains (padres) are drawn from the dioceses of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Commonwealth, as well as from some religious orders. Chaplains have spiritual and pastoral care of military personnel and their families.
Until 1986, military ordinariates were called "military vicariates" and had a status similar to that of apostolic vicariates which are headed by a bishop who receives his authority by delegation from the Pope. The apostolic constitution Spirituali Militum Curae of 21 April 1986 raised their status, declaring that the bishop who heads one of them is an "ordinary", holding authority by virtue of his office, and not by delegation from another person in authority.
There is sometimes confusion between the holder of this Catholic post and the Anglican "Bishop to the Forces": for this reason the former is normally referred to as "the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Forces".

## Offices and statistics

The current Bishop of the Forces is the Rt Rev Paul Mason, who was appointed by Pope Francis on 9 July 2018. The Vicar General of the Bishopric and Dean of the Military Cathedral is Father Nick Gosnell. The chancellor of the Bishopric of the Forces is Rev. Neil Galloway.
The diocesan office and the episcopal see, the Cathedral of St Michael and St George (dedicated to traditional patron saints of chivalry and military), are located on Queens Avenue, Aldershot, Hampshire, England.
As of 2014 it has 25 priests (23 diocesan, two religious), two deacons and two lay religious brothers.

## History

From 1917, two individual titular bishops were appointed in succession as Roman Catholic Bishops of the Forces.
On 21 November 1953, a permanent Military Vicariate of Great Britain was established, still led by titular bishops.
On 21 July 1986, it was promoted as Military Ordinariate of Bishopric of the Forces in Great Britain, with its own Ordinary.

## List of office holders

Roman Catholic Bishops of the Forces :
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes |
| Military bishopric ||||
| 1917 | 1934 | William Keatinge | Appointed on 30 October 1917 and consecrated Titular Bishop of Metellopolis on 25 February 1918. Died in office on 21 February 1934. |
| 1935 | 1946 | James Dey | Appointed on 13 April 1935 and consecrated Titular Bishop of Sebastopolis in Armenia on 2 June 1935. Died in office on 8 May 1946. |
| 1946 | 1954 | Sede vacante | Sede vacante |
| Military vicariate ||||
| 1954 | 1963 | David Mathew | Previously Apostolic Delegate (papal diplomatic envoy) of British East and West Africa. Consecrated Titular Archbishop of Apamea in Bithynia on 20 February 1946. Appointed on 16 April 1954. Resigned on 23 March 1963 and died on 12 December 1975. |
| 1963 | 1978 | Gerard Tickle | Appointed on 12 October 1963 and consecrated Titular Bishop of Bela on 1 December 1963. Resigned on 24 April 1978 and died on 14 December 1994. |
| 1979 | 1986 | Francis Walmsley | Appointed on 8 January 1979 and consecrated Titular Bishop of Tamalluma on 22 February 1979. Became the first bishop of the military ordinariate at the vicariate's promotion on 21 July 1986. |
| Military ordinariate ||||
| 1986 | 2002 | Francis Walmsley | Appointed bishop of the military ordinariate on 21 July 1986. Retired on 24 May 2002 and died on 26 December 2017. |
| 2002 | 2008 | Tom Burns S.M. | Appointed on 24 May 2002 and consecrated on 18 June 2002. Translated to Menevia in 2008. |
| 2009 | 2015 | Richard Moth | Appointed on 25 July 2009 and consecrated on 29 September 2009. Translated to Arundel and Brighton on 21 March 2015. |
| 2018 | | Paul James Mason | Consecrated Titular Bishop of Skálholt on 31 May 2016. Appointed on 9 July 2018 and installed on 12 September 2018 |