Christians at Work - November 2008
Bishop
Patrick Harris: "Bishop's business"
22 of us welcomed
Bishop Patrick to the meeting. The
Bishop’s journey through life was outlined in
the November Parish Magazine, so this account aims to use his words to
build on that.
After an introduction and readings
given by
Roy
from “Prayers for Peace” a joint publication by Archbishop Robert Runcie
and Cardinal Basil Hume, Bishop
Patrick gave an insight into how a law student was encouraged into a theological
college, thence to emerge into a
curacy in Oxford. From there
he was nudged by God into South America, partly through chance attendance
at a meeting of the South American Missionary Society, and then partly by the
gift of a desk whose drawers contained nothing but a map of
South America
.
The result was a journey to
Northern Argentina
and acquisition of the local
Amerindian (Wichi) and Spanish languages as a necessary precursor to
his mission out there, which included church planting.
Marriage to Valerie involved 3 ceremonies, the first civil as required by
Argentinian law, the second ecclesiastical and the 3rd a Wichi Indian
ceremony. Patrick’s Consecration
as Bishop of Northern Argentina in 1973 was
very informal, with the
Bishop sporting an open-necked shirt rather than full canonical dress.
When the Bishop and his family came back to
Britain in 1980 the way was set for
an Argentinian to succeed him, which
was fortunate in the light of the
Falklands War in 1982.
Back here, Patrick’s
5 years as Rector of Kirkheaton
enabled him to relearn about how the Church of England works;
his work as Secretary of the Partnership for World Mission helped him
keep in touch with the international sphere, and his totally unexpected
appointment as Bishop of Southwell gave
him many pastoral duties and enabled him to become acquainted with the miners in
a period of wholesale closure of coal pits.
We did not hear anything about retirement from the now
Assistant Bishop in the Dioceses of Gloucester and
Europe
. He
is still involved with
South America
notably in the Presidency of the South American Missionary Society, and
in the lay and clerical South Atlantic Council set up after 1982 to
facilitate reconciliation between the parties in the 1982 war. In the latter
organisation; he was very glad to have achieved joint celebration of Mass with a
Roman Catholic monk.
The two things that stood out from this fascinating talk
was how much of Patrick’s life has involved the processes of reconciliation and pastoral care for all those around
him.
Thank you Patrick!
David Long
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