Bishop Terry is awaiting surgery after slipping on ice and sustaining knee injuries on Monday (December 19).

He will require up to four months to recover after his operation, although he will have access to emails during some of that time.

As is usual in such cases, Vicar General Monsignor Gerard Robinson will take over many of the bishop’s duties, including Christmas services at St Mary’s Cathedral in Middlesbrough.

“Bishop Terry is in good spirits, despite his discomfort after what is a serious injury to the tendons in his knee,” said Monsignor Robinson.

“I would ask everyone in our diocese to join me in offering prayers for Bishop Terry’s full and speedy recovery.

“In the meantime, I know I can rely on our clergy and all the staff who work for the diocese in our curia to give me their support and assistance during Bishop Terry’s recuperation.”

Monsignor Robinson will preside at Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve (11pm) and Mass at 10am on Christmas Day.

Prisons chaplain Father Paul Douthwaite will celebrate Bishop Terry’s usual Christmas Eve Mass in HM Prison Deerbolt.