By Josephine Siedlecka A NEW AUXILIARY bishop for Southwark diocese was announced last Friday.
Pope John Paul II has appointed Mgr Canon John Hine to the position, giving him the titular See of Beverley. He will be ordained by Archbishop Bowen on Tuesday, February 27 in St George's Cathedral, Southwark.
Mgr Hine told The Herald: "The news of my appointment was unexpected and I'm very happy to serve the archdiocese. I'm very fond of Kent and it will be nice to get back to the parishes and schools. The first
thing I'm going to do when I get there is to make good contact with the priests, schools and people as much as I can."
Mgr Hine said he was going to make schools a major priority. "It's there that we reach out to so many people we otherwise don't incorporate into our parishes," he said.
"Young people are under tremendous peer pressure these days. We need to convince everyone of the mission of the Church to be the sign and instrument of Christ's kingdom on earth."
Mgr Hine was born in Tunbridge Wells on July 26, 1938. He went to school at Stoneyhurst and the Mayfield Xaverian College before training for the priesthood at the English College in Rome for Southwark Archdiocese.
Ordained by Cardinal Godfrey in 1962, he served in the parishes of Worcester Park, Maidstone and Chatham.
In 1978 he became the first parish priest of the new parish of Bearstead and also became secretary, then chairman, of the Kent Schools Commission.
In 1986 he was appointed Vicar General and Chancellor of Southwark Archdiocese and in 1997 he was appointed the archbishop's representative on child protection issues.
Additional reporting: Citra Sidhu