Robin Gibbons, Honorary Ecumenical Canon

Fr Robin Gibbons

Source: Christ Church Cathedral Blog

Fr Robin Gibbons, who writes our Sunday Reflection each week, is an Eastern Rite Catholic Chaplain for Melkites in the UK. He is also an Ecumenical Canon of Christ Church Cathedral, Oxford. Emily Essex interviewed him for the Christ Church Cathedral blog.

Emily: Your job title is one of the strangest I've come across- what does it actually mean?

Robin: 'Canons' in this setting are the Cathedral Clergy, and there are a number of Honorary Canons who are invited to be part of the wider life of the Cathedral.

In my case I am an Eastern Rite Catholic Priest and my association with this place is twofold: I helped in the Diocese as an ecumenical partner in the Benefice of Steeple Aston, North Aston and Tackley for 20 years, and I have been involved with various Cathedral initiatives, particularly the After Eight services and as one of the Day Chaplains, who spend time with visitors in the Cathedral.

I am also the first Catholic Priest to be installed in the Cathedral since, I suppose, the Reformation period. And I like to think of myself as a kind of link with the past.

Emily: Do you think there is a kind of missional aspect to your work here?

Robin: Oh yes I do, and I feel that it is influenced by the fact that the Cathedral is a complex building and has such a complex identity: not only is it a place of regular worship but it's also a College Chapel, the Cathedral for a Diocese, and on top of that a 'pilgrimage space'. And it's on the tourist trail as well.

To read on see: www.chch.ox.ac.uk/blog/robin-gibbons-honorary-ecumenical-canon