Retired bishop celebrates Mass sitting down

Bishop John chats with parishioner Mike Boyes after Mass

A bishop celebrated a special Mass while seated, instead of standing, in front of 800 people at St Mary's Cathedral, Middlesbrough, on Saturday 3 December.

Bishop John Crowley, who was celebrating the silver jubilee of his ordination as Bishop of Middlesbrough, then sat for a further 90 minutes to chat with well-wishers after the ceremony.

"I'm as fit as a fiddle, but a knee operation needs to be re-done," he said, explaining why he was sitting down.

He told the packed church that he "loved life" and thanked God for being fulfilled as a Catholic priest.

Bishop Crowley, 70, resigned in 2007 after 15 years as bishop of Middlesbrough because of stress-related illness. He now lives in a parish in London's East End giving spiritual retreats all over the country.

Parishioners from all over the Tees-to-Humber diocese, gave him three prolonged rounds of applause at the end of the Mass as current Bishop Terry Drainey gave him presents.

On Sunday, Bishop Crowley celebrated Mass at our Lady of Lourdes, Saltburn, North Yorkshire, where his former vicar-general Mgr Ricardo Morgan is parish priest.

He revealed that he had been invited to return to "this special diocese" in 2015 to celebrate the golden jubilee of being ordained a priest.