Walsingham Bishop to return to Australian post

THE FORMER Bishop of Horsham, the Rt Rev Lindsay Urwin OGS has announced that he will step down as Administrator of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham to return to parish ministry.

On 12 April 2015 Bishop Urwin stated he had accepted the post of incumbent of Christ Church Brunswick, an Anglo-Catholic parish near the University of Melbourne.

“Letting go of my responsibilities here and the particular rhythm of corporate prayer and life here, and leaving colleagues and friends who have become very dear to me will be a real wrench,” said Bishop Urwin.

Sponsored for ordination by the Diocese of Melbourne, Bishop Urwin studied in the UK. Upon ordination he served his title in South London. “I still have a letter from a rather cross then-Archbishop of Melbourne saying that he hoped very much that one day I would return and serve in the diocese. That day has been a long time coming,” he said.

He added: “Australia is only 22 hours away by plane these days. Some of our pilgrims in far-flung parts of the UK have been known to take 11 hours to get to Walsingham. It’s only the other side of the world, and in any case, the Church is One, the same graces are available both here and there, and the Holy Mother, sometimes known as Our Lady of the Southern Cross, will continue to hold us together under her mantle.”

The Bishop of Chichester, Dr Martin Warner, Master of the Guardians, said on the news of the appointment: “Bishop Lindsay Urwin has made an outstanding contribution to the life of the Shrine of Our Lady of Walsingham. As Administrator for the past six years he has used the charism of being a bishop to extend the Shrine’s outreach.

“This has deepened its ministry of healing, of nurture of the young, of prayerful attention to the Word of God in Scripture, and of drawing in those who have never known the gospel come alive in the experience of pilgrimage.”

Bishop Urwin will take up his new post in September.