It was announced this week that one of our own priests has been named a Bishop. Canon Peter Collins, parish priest of Canton and Fairwater, will be ordained Bishop of East Anglia, based at Norwich, on 14 December. We wish him all God’s blessings and guidance. Here is his CV as described on the East Anglia website.

“Peter Gwilym Collins was born on 13 May 1958, in Tredegar, South Wales, and then nurtured with his three older sisters in the nearby town of Rhymney. He attended local Catholic primary and secondary schools and then briefly explored a pathway into teaching before being accepted for seminary formation in 1978. Following six years at the Royal English College, Valladolid, Spain, he was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Cardiff on 14 July 1984. His philosophical and theological studies were undertaken at the Augustinian Faculty in Valladolid, at the Pontifical University of Comillas in Madrid and at the Pontifical University of Salamanca.

He served as Assistant Priest in the Metropolitan Cathedral of St David, Cardiff, from 1984 – 1986 and in Bridgend from 1986 – 1988. He returned to Spain for post-graduate study before taking up his appointment as Vice Rector at the Royal English College, serving there from 1989 – 1994.

Upon his return to the Archdiocese, he was appointed as Parish Priest of Chepstow and Caldicot. In 2001, he became Dean of the Metropolitan Cathedral in Cardiff, serving there for the next 18 years. In 2006, he was appointed as a member of the Metropolitan Chapter of Canons. In 2019, he moved to the next door parishes of St Mary of the Angels, Canton and Holy Family, Fairwater.

Alongside his parish responsibilities, Bishop-Elect Peter Collins has served in a multiplicity of diocesan roles: 12 years as Chair of the Education Commission; ten years as Director of the Diaconate; 28 years in various safeguarding roles, being designated as Archbishop’s Delegate to the first national meeting on safeguarding in 1995 and later serving as Coordinator and Clergy Advisor. He has also served as an area Dean, a member of the College of Consultors, a member of the Archbishop’s Council and as a Trustee… He was appointed to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem in 2004.”

Fr Matthew