- Thomas Burns (bishop)
Infobox bishopbiog
name = The Rt Rev Thomas Matthew Burns
religion =Catholic Church
See =Bishopric of the Forces
Title = Bishop of the Forces
Period =May 24 2002 — present
Consecration =June 18 2002 Predecessor = Francis Joseph Walmsley
Successor = incumbent
date of birth = Birth date and age|1944|6|3|mf=y
place of birth = Belfast, Northern Ireland|infobox bishopstyles
name=Thomas Matthew Burns
dipstyle=The Right Reverend
offstyle=Your Excellency
relstyle=Bishop
deathstyle=not applicable |Thomas Matthew Burns, SM (born
June 3 ,1944 ) is aLatin Rite Englishprelate of theCatholic Church . He currently serves as Bishop of the Forces, and as such, acts as the leading Catholicchaplain in theBritish Armed Forces .Biography
He was born in
Belfast , but his family later moved toLancashire . After studying atSt. Mary's College, Blackburn , theSixth Form inExeter , and a monastery inPaignton , Burns was ordained to the priesthood on16 December 1971 , for the Society of Mary.He then did pastoral work, taught
economics inSidcup and Blackburn, and served as a chaplain in theRoyal Navy . Burns left theRoyal Navy in 1992 and became Bursar General of the Marists' Headquarters inRome , but returned to the Navy in 1994.On
24 May 2002 , he was appointed to head themilitary ordinariate ofGreat Britain , theBishopric of the Forces . He received his episcopal consecration on the following18 June fromCormac Cardinal Murphy-O'Connor , with BishopFrancis Walmsley and Archbishop Patrick Kelly serving as co-consecrators.Burns has been a vociferous critic of the
UK Ministry of Defence , complaining that troops in Iraq were "frustrated by restrictions, checks and delays that are placed on them but not on their opponents", and that their "activities are often jeopardised by poor equipment, outmoded vehicles and inadequate apparel" ( [http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/article2303007.ece] ).ee also
*
Bishopric of the Forces
*Catholic Church in England and Wales
*Military ordinariate References
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