A bishop who has served the community of Tayside and beyond for eight years has announced he is stepping down citing ill health.
Bishop Stephen Robson, who was appointed as Bishop of Dunkeld in late 2013, confirmed yesterday that Pope Francis has accepted his request to be able to retire early.
Commenting on his retirement, Bishop Robson said: “Since I came to the diocese in 2013, priests, religious people and deacons have all been very good to me, and I have tried to serve them as best I can.
“However, I am now almost 72 years of age and, although three years short of the normal retirement age, I am as you might expect, sad to have come to the conclusion that I no longer have the strength necessary to carry on effectively shepherding the diocese.
“However, I am happy to say that the diocese is in relatively good shape, and I have every confidence that a good, younger, and fitter priest will be selected by the Pope to carry on the work of pastoring and feeding the people of God by means of the word of God and the sacraments.
“I thank the Holy Father for allowing me to retire, and I wish every blessing and grace on the good priests, deacons and religious people of Dunkeld.”
Tributes
Amongst the tributes that have been paid to Bishop Robson, St John’s RC High School in Dundee, tweeted: “All at St John’s wish Bishop Stephen a long, happy and healthy retirement and thank him for everything he has done and will continue to do to support our community.”
Bishop Robson was born in Carlisle on April 1 1951 and became a Roman Catholic while a teenager.
He attended the University of Edinburgh where he obtained a degree in biological sciences.
Bishop Robson, who is the ninth bishop of the diocese of Dunkeld, has vacated his role within the Diocese of Dunkeld, which covers Perthshire, Angus, Dundee and parts of Clackmannanshire, Stirlingshire and Fife.
He will now become Bishop Emeritus of Dunkeld.
No successor yet
The diocese is headquartered at St Andrew’s RC Cathedral in Dundee, as Dundee is the residence of the majority of the Catholics of the diocese and the largest centre of population.
Since the Holy See is not yet at the point of being able to nominate and appoint a new diocesan Bishop, the task now falls to the College of Consultors, a sub-set of the Council of Priests of the Diocese of Dunkeld, to elect a diocesan administrator from among the priests of the diocese who will have responsibility for the day-to-day running of the diocese.
The consultors have eight days in which to fulfil this requirement.
