Priest association leader dies aged 69

FR LEONARD Whatmore, who for many years figured prominently in the now-defunct Catholic Priests' Association, has died at the age of 69.
Born in Birmingham in 1912, Fr Whatmore studied for the priesthood at St John's seminary, Wonersh, where he was ordained for the Southwark diocese in June 1941.
Among his academic achievements was an MA degree in Classics and Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society.
He worked for the cause of canonisation of the English Martyrs and was a member of the Historical Commisssion on the Cause of Cornelia Connelly from 1953-68. He was also diocesan postulator for the cause of Mother Mary of the Heart of Jesus. During the earlier years of his priesthood he was a curate in Brighton and various parts of the then Southwark diocese. He later became parish priest at Hindhead, Surrey, and then at Hailsham in East Sussex, becoming a priest of the Arundel and Brighton diocese on its formation in 1965. • In the 1960's, when the Catholic Priests' Association was at its height, his name frequently appeared in the letter columns of the Herald. often next to that of the late Fr John Flanagan, then parish priest in Hailsham's neighbouring parish Polegate.
Fr Whatmore spent the closing years of his life in the French Convalescent Home in Brighton.
The funeral will be held at St John the Baptist Church, Brighton at I lam on April 19.