from Rt Rev Mgr Canon Gerard Dasey

Administrator of the Diocese of Middlesbrough

On the occasion of Bishop Drainey’s Episcopal Ordination

Your Excellency, Archbishop Sainz Munoz, Lord Lieutenant, Lord Crathorne, Archbishops, Bishops, Fr Abbot, Lady Masham, Lady Normanby, Mr Mayor Mallon, Sir Stuart Bell, Worshipful Mayors of Stockton, Redcar and Cleveland, Councillor Knaggs, Deputy Chief Constable, Ecumenical guests and all our guests, may I on behalf of the Provost and Chapter, priests, religious, deacons and people of the Diocese of Middlesbrough welcome you all to St Mary’s Cathedral on this great day in the life of the Diocese.

Our particular and special welcome goes to our Bishop-elect, Mgr Terence Drainey, soon to be ordained a bishop and installed as the Seventh Bishop of Middlesbrough. It is almost 130 years since a bishop was ordained as Diocesan Bishop in the Diocese, indeed it was our first Bishop, Richard Lacy, in 1879.

We welcome you with great joy and assure you of our full support and prayers for your ministry among us. You bring to the Diocese a wealth of pastoral and administrative experience and from your first visit when you prayed with us, we had cause to look forward with confidence. We know you plan in your early weeks as Bishop to meet priests, religious, deacons and lay people of the Diocese and I can assure you of a warm welcome wherever you go. We all wish to be close partners with you in the work of evangelisation and so making Christ known to all. Though we are a small diocese, we are active in many areas of pastoral work and I know you will bring your own commitment to these and they will provide a foundation for us to move forward under your leadership.

So Monsignor, welcome to the Diocese of Middlesbrough and to this joyful day for us all.