‘I am not fazed by military life’
On the eve of Remembrance Sunday Ed West meets the 'straight down the line' new Bishop of the Forces

6 November 2009

Bishop Moth, pictured at St George's Cathedral, Southwark (Mazur/catholicchurch.org.uk)

Every Remembrance Sunday is a poignant affair, a time when we remember the tremendous sacrifice and courage of servicemen and women over the past century, and the unbearable grief of millions of families back home.

This year is perhaps especially so, with the sight of coffins carrying lads whose lives have been cut short becoming all too common. Out in Afghanistan British soldiers are dying, and many of those who come back are broken men.

But the prayers of the faithful back home, and the donations they make, do make a difference to the men far away.

"The prayer for chaplains around Remembrance Sunday that takes place in parish churches is hugely important," says Bishop Richard Moth, the new Bishop of the Forces. "There are other days of course, but Remembrance Sunday, when people are very ostensibly praying for our armed services, the chaplains and the work of the bishoprics, is the biggest."

There are some 40,000 Catholics in the British Armed Forces, flung across the globe, in former conflict zones such as the Falkland Islands and Northern Ireland, and current ones - worst of all being Afghanistan. Regardless of whether, as the saying goes, there's no such thing as an atheist in a foxhole, the presence of army chaplains certainly makes a great difference.

"You can imagine the challenge to faith," the bishop says. "Some people will find God in that situation, and some will find their faith challenged in a big way. You can only imagine the challenge for the chaplain. The chaplain is there to journey with the men and women, to be with them for some of those big questions, to be with Christ, to bring them the Sacraments. Wherever the people are, there the Church must be.

"What is definitely the case is that the presence of chaplains on deployments is hugely appreciated by everyone, even for those with no faith. Because the chaplain is someone who is one step aside from the chain of command, someone they can talk to, chat things through with."

Bishop Moth has only been in his new post for six weeks now, having spent 17 years at Archbishop's House in Southwark. The 51-year-old was born in what was then Northern Rhodesia during the last days of Empire. His father worked for an Anglo-American copper company, although they moved back to England after Zambia's independence.

Richard Moth then grew up in Kent and attended St Andrew's Convent, Edenbridge, and Holmewood House prep school, before going to the Judd School in Tonbridge. It was at a relatively early age that the only child felt his calling.

"I started thinking about priesthood when I was 11 or 12 and I haven't changed my mind since," he laughs.

He began his formation at Wonersh Seminary, where fellow student Fr Ray Blake, of St Mary Magdalene in Brighton, recalled him as being "straight down the line" as a student.

Another contemporary seminarian, Fr Tim Finigan (like Fr Ray, also a blogger) described him as a man who is "at home with the Forces, enjoys horse-riding and has been known to engage in the odd bit of huntin' and shootin'".

Richard Moth was ordained in 1982 and his first appointment was as senior priest at St Bede's in Clapham before heading to Ottawa to study canon law. Two years later he was back in the diocese, at St Saviour and Ss John the Baptist, Lewisham, before becoming private secretary to Archbishop Michael Bowen. He also served on the Interdiocesan Tribunal of Second Instance of Southwark and as vocations director.

As well as being a Benedictine oblate, Bishop Moth is also the Ecclesiastical MC to the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre, and its spiritual director.

Crucially, as well, he has some experience of the military, having served for five years as a Territorial Army chaplain in the late Eighties and early Nineties. But he's quick to downplay its significance. "The military scene then was very different to the one that we have now," he says. "It was coming at the end of the Cold War so it was very different. I would never make great play of the fact I have military experience. To say that I have experience of deployments would not be true.

"However it's true to say I'm not fazed by military life, so I suppose it's helpful to that extent. It has given me an insight into the military. I'm not someone who doesn't feel at home in the setting."

On being appointed to his opposition, which he calls a great "surprise", he told the media it was "a little bit daunting".

It is an enormous role. The Bishopric of the Forces is served by 40 full-time chaplains and several TA and officiating chaplains, deployed around the world. The bishop is also Apostolic Visitor for the Prefecture of the Falkland Islands, which also includes St Helena, Tristan da Cunha, Ascension Island, and South Georgia. Bishop Moth has been to the Falklands before, to visit a fellow priest from the diocese who had been appointed to Port Stanley.

His new role, he says, "will certainly involve travel, because it's a diocese without boundaries, wherever service and their families are, that's the diocese: Germany, Cyprus, Afghanistan.

One of the most important tasks will be the recruitment of new chaplains, something in short supply. Does he have a strategy?

"The word 'recruiting'suits most Army situations but doesn't quite fit with chaplain," he replies. "The role of being a chaplain in Her Majesty's forces is in a way a vocation within a vocation."

He wants to go "about raising awareness among people who are perhaps being called by God to do this, to reflect, perhaps that, 'yes this is what I was born to do'. There will be people around who are called to that."

There are other issues. "Then it's a question of whether the bishop will allow them to leave the bishopric for a period of service, bearing in mind they will come back with a great deal of experience that will be helpful when they go home. But it's got to be something someone feels called to do and wants to do. It's a very committing role.

"Also, you have to be physically fit and mentally fit, and the right age. Military service for chaplains tends to finish around 55, perhaps with a little extension for a year or two. They also have to be able to work to a degree ecumenically because there will be chaplains from other churches. All those things come in. Flexibility is the key.

"You might work with a training establishment, there will be people who've just come into the military for the first time, who've been away from home for the first time, perhaps struggling with life. You need to be a flexible person, one who can cope with a range of scenarios." Ultimately, it's all about the soldiers and their families. Britain at the moment is going through one its periodic moments of guilt towards its servicemen, often treated very badly.

Bishop Moth's predecessor, Bishop Tom Burns, was popular, outspoken and controversial. He was criticised in the press for praising Iran for the release of 15 British sailors at Easter 2007, a deal rumoured to have been brokered by the Vatican. He had said it was the Iranians' faith in God that had enabled them to release the men and women.

He also criticised the Government for neglecting the Armed Forces, the poor quality of housing and the state of long-term care, and - most politically explosive - the lack of proper armour. (After this interview it was revealed that the Government had even stopped funding for Territorial Army training, at a time when TA servicemen are risking their lives.)

Will Bishop Moth be doing likewise? "My own line is I'm not opposed to speaking out when the occasion is right. I won't be speaking out unnecessarily, but if it does arise I'm not opposed to doing so."

In fact, he says, things are looking up. Bishop Moth is based opposite a garrison that is in the process of being rebuilt.

"An enormous amount is being done," he says. "It certainly would have been the case that if you went back a while some of the accommodation would not have been great, but it is being addressed. In my experience I can see that happening around me."

And he means to ensure that, wherever a serviceman or woman or their family is in need of spiritual or physical help. the Bishopric of the Forces will be there - even after they leave the forces.

"Young men and women are coming back from deployment need a huge amount of support," he says. "And their families need a huge amount of support. That doesn't cease just because someone leaves the forces, and because of that the care of the bishopric doesn't cease."