| The Most Reverend Peter Smith |
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|---|---|
| Archbishop of Southwark | |
| See | Southwark |
| Appointed | April 30, 2010 |
| Enthroned | June 10, 2010 |
| Predecessor | Kevin McDonald |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | July 15, 1972 |
| Consecration | May 27, 1995 by George Basil Hume |
| Personal details | |
| Birth name | Peter David Smith |
| Born | 21 October 1943 Battersea, London, United Kingdom |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Previous post |
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| Styles of Peter Smith |
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|---|---|
| Reference style | The Most Reverend |
| Spoken style | Your Grace |
| Religious style | Monsignor |
Peter David Smith (born 21 October 1943) is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, currently the Metropolitan Archbishop of Southwark. From 2001 to 2010 he was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cardiff.
Born in Battersea, Smith studied at Clapham College and at Exeter University (where he earned his bachelor's degree in law). He then undertook studies for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Wonersh and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome (earning his doctorate in canon law). He was ordained to the priesthood on 5 July 1972.
After doing pastoral work from 1972 to 1974, Smith began teaching canon law at his alma mater, St John's Seminary, in 1977. He then served as a curate in Thornton Heath (1984–1985) and as the rector of St John's Seminary (1985–1995).
On 21 March 1995, Smith was appointed Bishop of East Anglia by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 21 May from Cardinal Basil Hume OSB, with Archbishop Michael George Bowen and Bishop Alan Charles Clark serving as co-consecrators. Smith was later named Archbishop of Cardiff on 26 October 2001,[1] following the resignation of the Capuchin, John Ward, amid a controversy about paedophile priests in the archdiocese.[2][3] In regard to these sexual abuse cases, Smithdeclared that he "wanted to help people bind up the wounds and bring healing".[4] He also voiced his opposition to living wills in 2004, fearing that "a proxy could make a decision to do away with someone for the motive of killing someone".[5]
Smith has chaired the Catholic Truth Society since 1993 and the Department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship within the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales since 1998. He was also chairman of the Central Religious Advisory Committee (CRAC) of the BBC and ITC from 2001 to 2004. In 2002 he was made a sub-prelate and chaplain of the Venerable Order of Saint John. In 2004 he was made an Honorary Fellow of the University of Wales, Lampeter and also of Cardiff University in 2006.
On 30 April 2010, Smith was named as the Archbishop of Southwark, replacing Archbishop Kevin McDonald who resigned the see due to ill health. He was installed on 10 June 2010.[6]
Archbishop Smith will ordain seven priests in the initial wave of Catholic presbyteral ordinations for the recently-established Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham on Saturday, June 4, 2011 in the Cathedral Church of Southwark; more than 50 other ordinations will follow in this season, later in June. The Personal Ordinariate for these Anglican converts to Catholicism wishing to preserve their Anglican heritage was established in mid-January 2011 by the Apostolic Letter Anglicanorum coetibus of Pope Benedict XVI. At that time five former Anglican bishops were ordained as Roman Catholic priests in total.[7]
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Alan Clark |
Bishop of East Anglia 21 March 1995—26 October 2001 |
Succeeded by Michael Charles Evans |
| Preceded by John Aloysius Ward, OFM Cap |
Archbishop of Cardiff 26 October 2001—10 June 2010 |
Succeeded by George Stack |
| Preceded by Kevin McDonald |
Archbishop of Southwark 10 June 2010—present |
Succeeded by incumbent |
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