John William Goddard[3] (born 8 September 1947)[4] is a British Roman Catholic priest and former Anglican bishop. From 2000 to 2014, he was Bishop of Burnley, a suffragan bishop in the Church of England's Diocese of Blackburn. He left the Church of England and was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 2021. He was ordained deacon on Tuesday 29 March 2022 and priest on Saturday 2 April 2022 by Bishop Tom Williams in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King, Liverpool.


John Goddard
former Bishop of Burnley
Goddard in 2014
ChurchChurch of England
ProvinceYork
DioceseBlackburn
SeeBurnley
Installed9 December 2000[1]
Term ended19 July 2014 (retired)
PredecessorMartyn Jarrett
SuccessorPhilip North
Orders
Ordination1970 (Anglican deacon)
1971 (Anglican priest)
2022 (Catholic deacon)
2022 (Catholic priest)
Consecration7 December 2000[1]
by David Hope
Personal details
Born (1947-09-08) 8 September 1947 (age 77)
NationalityBritish
DenominationRoman Catholic
(formerly Anglican) [2]
SpouseVivienne
Children2
Alma materDurham University
Wells Cathedral School

Early life

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Goddard studied theology at St Chad's College, Durham, and graduated from Durham University with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree in 1969.[5] He then gained a Diploma in Theology (DipTh).[6]

Ordained ministry

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Goddard was ordained in the Church of England as a deacon in 1970 and as a priest in 1971.[5] He began his ordained ministry as a curate at St John's Southbank[7] before continuing as a curate at Cayton and Eastfield (Scarborough) under the guidance of Alan A. Millar. He then held two incumbencies in Middlesbrough and became the rural dean. From 1988 to 1992 he was vice principal of Edinburgh Theological College and then rector of Ribbleton before his ordination to the episcopate.

Goddard was consecrated a bishop on 7 December 2000 by David Hope, Archbishop of York. On 9 December 2000, he was installed as Bishop of Burnley, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Blackburn.[1]

Goddard retired on 19 July 2014.

Views

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He has expressed the belief (2012) that there are no totally rural parishes in the Diocese of Blackburn, which includes large swathes of farming communities and extensive rural areas such as the Forest of Bowland. This is because most of the rural areas in the villages have residents whose involvement in commercial, academic, professional and urban matters reflect a more suburban character.

At the November 2012 meeting of the General Synod of the Church of England, Goddard was one of the three members of the House of Bishops who voted against the ordination of women as bishops.[8][9]

Roman Catholic Church

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It was announced on 21 May 2021 that Goddard would be received into the Roman Catholic Church on the Feast of Pentecost, 23 May, by the auxiliary bishop of Liverpool.[10] On 2 April 2022, he was ordained to the priesthood by Tom Williams during a service at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral; and serves as a priest of the Archdiocese of Liverpool.[11] In April 2023, he was appointed a Chaplain of His Holiness, and thereby granted the title "Monsignor".[12]

Goddard did not join the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, a canonical structure created for former Anglicans who had joined the Roman Catholic Church which has its own missal, but instead incorporated into the Archdiocese of Liverpool.[12] His first post was as an assistant priest at St Oswald's Church, Longton.[12] In September 2023, he was appointed parochial administrator of Our Lady Help of Christians, Tarleton.[13][14]

Personal life

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Goddard is a keen narrowboater.[15] He is married to Vivienne. Together they have two children; Michael and Gareth.[6]

Styles

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References

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  1. ^ a b c Blackburn Diocese — Old News 2000 (Google cache)[dead link]
  2. ^ "Personal".
  3. ^ Anglican Communion
  4. ^ Who's Who2008: London, A & C Black ISBN 978-0-7136-8555-8
  5. ^ a b "John William Goddard". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  6. ^ a b c Number 10 — Suffragan See of Burnley (National Archives) Archived 2012-04-02 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ Church website Archived 2008-09-05 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ "Half of women bishops opponents in Synod were women". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 16 May 2023.
  9. ^ Davies, Lizzy (26 November 2012). "Almost half the lay members who voted against female bishops were women". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Personal".
  11. ^ Caldwell, Simon (11 March 2022). "Why these Anglican bishops are becoming Catholics". The Tablet. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  12. ^ a b c Caldwell, Simon (20 March 2023). "Pope promotes former Anglican bishop who became priest". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  13. ^ "Latest News". St Agnes Eccleston. Retrieved 31 March 2024. Mgr. John Goddard will become parochial administrator of Our Lady Help of Christians in Tarleton.
  14. ^ "24 SEPTEMBER 2023 – 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time". ourladystarleton.co.uk. Our Lady, Help of Christians. Retrieved 31 March 2024.
  15. ^ Debrett's People of Today London, 2008 Debrett's, ISBN 978-1-870520-95-9
Church of England titles
Preceded by Bishop of Burnley
2000–2014
Succeeded by