Crispian Hollis
Encyclopedia
Roger Francis Crispian Hollis (born 17 November 1936, in Bristol
) is the Bishop of Portsmouth for the Catholic Church. His parents were Christopher Hollis
(1902–1977), the author and parliamentarian, and Madeleine Hollis (née King).
(1868–1944), vice-principal of Wells Theological College and later bishop
-suffragan of Taunton
, and the nephew of another, the Right Revd. Arthur Michael Hollis
, Bishop of Madras
1942-1954.
Having worked as a lecturer of Church History at the United Theological College, Bangalore
, 1955–1960, Bishop Arthur Michael Hollis, served in his last years as Rector
of Todwick
, and Assistant Bishop
within the Diocese of Sheffield
. Bishop Crispian, on the other hand, was the son of Bishop Arthur's brother, Christopher Hollis
, an Eton
and Balliol
educated writer, wartime Royal Air Force
intelligence officer, and later Tory Member of Parliament
for Devizes
. Christopher Hollis was a friend of Ronald Knox
and Evelyn Waugh
and in 1924 converted to Roman Catholicism
, as Knox had already done and as Waugh did later. Not only that, but Bishop Crispian’s uncle, after whom he was named, was Sir Roger Henry Hollis
, another son of Bishop George Hollis, and younger brother to Bishop Crispian Hollis’ father Christopher. Roger, described by Evelyn Waugh
as ‘a good bottle man’, abandoned studies at Worcester College, Oxford
for a wandering life that led him, like Bishop Crispian’s father Christopher, into the intelligence world. Roger joined MI5
(the Security Service
) shortly before World War II
, and in 1956 became Director General, sadly exciting suspicions of his being a Soviet agent and mole, codenamed “Elli”, though various investigations, including the lengthy Trend Committee of the 1970s under Lord Trend, decided the allegations inconclusive, neither denying nor confirming them. Bishop Crispian Hollis’s younger cousin, Adrian Hollis
, son of the supposed mole Sir Roger Henry Hollis
, is a Grandmaster of correspondence chess
, and was British Correspondence Chess Champion in 1966, 1967, and 1971.
, where his father had once taught, and did his national service in the Somerset Light Infantry, serving in the United Kingdom and Malaya. In 1956 he went up to Balliol College, Oxford
to read Modern History and graduated in 1959. In that year he went to Rome to start training for the priesthood, reading Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University as a member of the Venerable English College, and obtaining the Licence in Sacred Theology in 1966.
After one year as a curate at Christ the King, Amesbury, Wiltshire, Crispian Hollis was posted to the Old Palace, which housed the Catholic Chaplaincy in University of Oxford
. There he worked from 1967–1977, first as Assistant to Father Michael Hollings, then as Chaplain. In 1977 he was appointed Catholic Assistant to the Head of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC, a responsibility that ensured him a lifetime of contacts with the media.
In 1981 he was appointed Administrator of Clifton Cathedral
in Bristol and Vicar General of the diocese of Clifton, with special responsibility for ecumenical affairs. While still in this post, he was appointed a member of the IBA
's panel of Religious Advisers and in 1986 became a member of CRAC (the Central Religious Advisory Committee) for the BBC and the IBA.
of the Archdiocese of Birmingham
. Bishop Crispian was given special responsibility for the Oxfordshire
area. This was not to last, for he was installed as Bishop of Portsmouth on 27 January 1989.
He has been Chairman of the Catholic Media Trust and also Chairman of the Bishops' Committee for Europe. He is member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in the Vatican. He is Chairman of the Bishops' Conference Department of Mission and Unity, Representative for the Bishops' Conference of the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and a Member of IARCCUM (International Anglican Roman Catholic Committee for Unity and Mission). He is said to enjoy cricket
and golf
and, in the family tradition, to take a very keen interest in current affairs.
Holy Trinity Monastery, East Hendred
, a monastery
of contemplative Benedictine
nuns situated in the Vale of White Horse
, Oxfordshire
, and part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth
was founded by Bishop Hollis in 2004.
The road outside Bishop's House, Portsmouth and St John's Cathedral was re-named Bishop Crispian Way on Sunday 3 April 2011, to mark his forthcoming retirement after 22 years service. At the time, Bishop Crispian said: 'I am overwhelmed by the honour that is being done to me by the renaming of what I might call our section of Edinburgh Rd. As far as I know, no such honour has been done to any of my predecessors and I am still at a little bit of a loss to know what I have done to deserve this honour. I have now lived in the city of Portsmouth for nearly 23 years and I have come to love it as my home. I have always tried to engage myself in the life of the wider community of the city and when the time comes for me to leave, I will do so with great sadness.'
, first going there in 1967 as Chaplain with the Oxford University Pilgrimage and then going annually with them until 1981. On returning to the Diocese of Clifton he travelled with the Clifton Pilgrimage each year up until 1986 and with the Portsmouth Diocese since 1987.
Portsmouth Diocese together with the Dioceses of Clifton, East Anglia, Northampton and Southwark, plus Stonyhurst College
travel each year with the Catholic Association Pilgrimage
to Lourdes. Bishop Hollis is the Patron of the Catholic Association Hospitalité.
candidacy for President of the United States
in 2008..
In November 2011, the High Court ruled that Roman Catholic priests were not self-employed, as had been argued by lawyers acting for Bishop Hollis. The ruling refers to a civil action being brought by a 47-year old who claims that she was subjected to repeated sexual assault in a care home in the Diocese of Portsmouth. The "self-employment" defence had been put forward by the Diocese to justify the argument that a Roman Catholic diocese was not responsible for the actions of its priests.
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
) is the Bishop of Portsmouth for the Catholic Church. His parents were Christopher Hollis
Christopher Hollis
Maurice Christopher Hollis, known as Christopher Hollis was a British schoolmaster, university teacher, author and Conservative politician.-Life:...
(1902–1977), the author and parliamentarian, and Madeleine Hollis (née King).
Family life
Bishop Crispian Hollis has a colourful family background. Both his parents were received into the Roman Catholic Church. He is surely unique among Catholic bishops in being the grandson of an Anglican Bishop, George Arthur HollisGeorge Arthur Hollis
George Arthur Hollis was Bishop of Taunton from 1931 to 1945. Born on 17 April 1868 he was educated at Keble College, Oxford and ordained in 1894. He began his ecclesiastical career with a curacy at St James Wednesbury followed by a spell as Perpetual Curate of St Bartholomew Armley...
(1868–1944), vice-principal of Wells Theological College and later bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
-suffragan of Taunton
Taunton
Taunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
, and the nephew of another, the Right Revd. Arthur Michael Hollis
Arthur Michael Hollis
The Rt Rev Arthur Michael Hollis was an eminent Anglican clergyman in the mid 20th century.A member of a distinguished family, he was born on June 23, 1899 and educated at Leeds Grammar School and Trinity College, Oxford. Ordained in 1924 his first post was as a preacher at St Andrew’s, Huddersfield...
, Bishop of Madras
Bishop of Madras
The Bishop of Madras was the Ordinary of the Anglican Church in Madras from its inception in 1835 until the foundation of the Church in India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon in 1927; and since then head of one of its most prominent Dioceses.-External links:*...
1942-1954.
Having worked as a lecturer of Church History at the United Theological College, Bangalore
Bangalore
Bengaluru , formerly called Bengaluru is the capital of the Indian state of Karnataka. Bangalore is nicknamed the Garden City and was once called a pensioner's paradise. Located on the Deccan Plateau in the south-eastern part of Karnataka, Bangalore is India's third most populous city and...
, 1955–1960, Bishop Arthur Michael Hollis, served in his last years as Rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
of Todwick
Todwick
Todwick is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It has a population of 1,637, and contains a primary school and a nursery, "Todwick Early Years". Todwick also is home to one pub, The Red Lion, and a church...
, and Assistant Bishop
Assistant Bishop
An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop.-Church of England:In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually are retired bishops – in which case they are honorary assistant bishops...
within the Diocese of Sheffield
Diocese of Sheffield
The Diocese of Sheffield is an administrative division of the Church of England, part of the Province of York.The Diocese of Sheffield was formed on January 23, 1914, by the division from the Diocese of York...
. Bishop Crispian, on the other hand, was the son of Bishop Arthur's brother, Christopher Hollis
Christopher Hollis
Maurice Christopher Hollis, known as Christopher Hollis was a British schoolmaster, university teacher, author and Conservative politician.-Life:...
, an Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and Balliol
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
educated writer, wartime Royal Air Force
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
intelligence officer, and later Tory Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Devizes
Devizes (UK Parliament constituency)
Devizes is a parliamentary constituency in Wiltshire, England, which is now represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and before 1707 in the House of Commons of England....
. Christopher Hollis was a friend of Ronald Knox
Ronald Knox
Ronald Arbuthnott Knox was an English priest, theologian and writer.-Life:Ronald Knox was born in Kibworth, Leicestershire, England into an Anglican family and was educated at Eton College, where he took the first scholarship in 1900 and Balliol College, Oxford, where again...
and Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
and in 1924 converted to Roman Catholicism
Roman Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the world's largest Christian church, with over a billion members. Led by the Pope, it defines its mission as spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ, administering the sacraments and exercising charity...
, as Knox had already done and as Waugh did later. Not only that, but Bishop Crispian’s uncle, after whom he was named, was Sir Roger Henry Hollis
Roger Hollis
Sir Roger Henry Hollis, KBE, CB was a British journalist and secret-service agent, who was Director General of MI5 from 1956 to 1965.-Early years:...
, another son of Bishop George Hollis, and younger brother to Bishop Crispian Hollis’ father Christopher. Roger, described by Evelyn Waugh
Evelyn Waugh
Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh , known as Evelyn Waugh, was an English writer of novels, travel books and biographies. He was also a prolific journalist and reviewer...
as ‘a good bottle man’, abandoned studies at Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College, Oxford
Worcester College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. The college was founded in the eighteenth century, but its predecessor on the same site had been an institution of learning since the late thirteenth century...
for a wandering life that led him, like Bishop Crispian’s father Christopher, into the intelligence world. Roger joined MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
(the Security Service
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
) shortly before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and in 1956 became Director General, sadly exciting suspicions of his being a Soviet agent and mole, codenamed “Elli”, though various investigations, including the lengthy Trend Committee of the 1970s under Lord Trend, decided the allegations inconclusive, neither denying nor confirming them. Bishop Crispian Hollis’s younger cousin, Adrian Hollis
Adrian Hollis
Adrian Swayne Hollis , is an English correspondence chess grandmaster and was British Correspondence Chess Champion in 1966 , 1967, and 1971....
, son of the supposed mole Sir Roger Henry Hollis
Roger Hollis
Sir Roger Henry Hollis, KBE, CB was a British journalist and secret-service agent, who was Director General of MI5 from 1956 to 1965.-Early years:...
, is a Grandmaster of correspondence chess
Correspondence chess
Correspondence chess is chess played by various forms of long-distance correspondence, usually through a correspondence chess server, through email or by the postal system; less common methods which have been employed include fax and homing pigeon...
, and was British Correspondence Chess Champion in 1966, 1967, and 1971.
Education
Crispian Hollis was educated at Stonyhurst CollegeStonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...
, where his father had once taught, and did his national service in the Somerset Light Infantry, serving in the United Kingdom and Malaya. In 1956 he went up to Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College, Oxford
Balliol College , founded in 1263, is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England but founded by a family with strong Scottish connections....
to read Modern History and graduated in 1959. In that year he went to Rome to start training for the priesthood, reading Philosophy and Theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University as a member of the Venerable English College, and obtaining the Licence in Sacred Theology in 1966.
Ministry
He was ordained a priest on 11 July 1965, about the same time that his uncle Roger took early retirement.After one year as a curate at Christ the King, Amesbury, Wiltshire, Crispian Hollis was posted to the Old Palace, which housed the Catholic Chaplaincy in University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
. There he worked from 1967–1977, first as Assistant to Father Michael Hollings, then as Chaplain. In 1977 he was appointed Catholic Assistant to the Head of Religious Broadcasting at the BBC, a responsibility that ensured him a lifetime of contacts with the media.
In 1981 he was appointed Administrator of Clifton Cathedral
Clifton Cathedral
The Cathedral Church of SS. Peter and Paul is the Roman Catholic cathedral in the English city of Bristol. Located in the Clifton area of the city, it is the seat of the Diocese of Clifton and is known as Clifton Cathedral....
in Bristol and Vicar General of the diocese of Clifton, with special responsibility for ecumenical affairs. While still in this post, he was appointed a member of the IBA
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
's panel of Religious Advisers and in 1986 became a member of CRAC (the Central Religious Advisory Committee) for the BBC and the IBA.
Bishop
In February 1987 he followed in the family footsteps when, like his grandfather, and his uncle, he was appointed as auxiliary bishop (or suffragan bishop) to the flamboyant Archbishop Maurice Noël Léon Couve de MurvilleMaurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville
Maurice Noël Léon Couve de Murville was the seventh Roman Catholic Archbishop of Birmingham from 25 March 1982 until his retirement on 12 June 1999, having formerly been a priest of the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton and chaplain of Fisher House, Cambridge.-Early career and priesthood:Maurice...
of the Archdiocese of Birmingham
Archdiocese of Birmingham
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Birmingham is one of the principal Latin-rite Catholic administrative divisions of England and Wales in the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church....
. Bishop Crispian was given special responsibility for the Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
area. This was not to last, for he was installed as Bishop of Portsmouth on 27 January 1989.
He has been Chairman of the Catholic Media Trust and also Chairman of the Bishops' Committee for Europe. He is member of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications in the Vatican. He is Chairman of the Bishops' Conference Department of Mission and Unity, Representative for the Bishops' Conference of the Churches Together in Britain and Ireland and a Member of IARCCUM (International Anglican Roman Catholic Committee for Unity and Mission). He is said to enjoy cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and golf
Golf
Golf is a precision club and ball sport, in which competing players use many types of clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a golf course using the fewest number of strokes....
and, in the family tradition, to take a very keen interest in current affairs.
Holy Trinity Monastery, East Hendred
Holy Trinity Monastery, East Hendred
Holy Trinity Monastery, East Hendred is a monastery of contemplative Benedictine nuns situated in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire. It is part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth.-History:...
, a monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...
of contemplative Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
nuns situated in the Vale of White Horse
Vale of White Horse
The Vale of White Horse is a local government district of Oxfordshire in England. The main town is Abingdon, other places include Faringdon and Wantage. There are 68 parishes within the district...
, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....
, and part of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth
Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth is a Latin Rite Roman Catholic diocese in England. The episcopal see is the Portsmouth Cathedral and is headed by the Bishop of Portsmouth...
was founded by Bishop Hollis in 2004.
The road outside Bishop's House, Portsmouth and St John's Cathedral was re-named Bishop Crispian Way on Sunday 3 April 2011, to mark his forthcoming retirement after 22 years service. At the time, Bishop Crispian said: 'I am overwhelmed by the honour that is being done to me by the renaming of what I might call our section of Edinburgh Rd. As far as I know, no such honour has been done to any of my predecessors and I am still at a little bit of a loss to know what I have done to deserve this honour. I have now lived in the city of Portsmouth for nearly 23 years and I have come to love it as my home. I have always tried to engage myself in the life of the wider community of the city and when the time comes for me to leave, I will do so with great sadness.'
Lourdes
Bishop Crispian actively encourages people to travel to Lourdes and indeed he has a great attachment to LourdesLourdes
Lourdes is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in south-western France.Lourdes is a small market town lying in the foothills of the Pyrenees, famous for the Marian apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes occurred in 1858 to Bernadette Soubirous...
, first going there in 1967 as Chaplain with the Oxford University Pilgrimage and then going annually with them until 1981. On returning to the Diocese of Clifton he travelled with the Clifton Pilgrimage each year up until 1986 and with the Portsmouth Diocese since 1987.
Portsmouth Diocese together with the Dioceses of Clifton, East Anglia, Northampton and Southwark, plus Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College
Stonyhurst College is a Roman Catholic independent school, adhering to the Jesuit tradition. It is located on the Stonyhurst Estate near the village of Hurst Green in the Ribble Valley area of Lancashire, England, and occupies a Grade I listed building...
travel each year with the Catholic Association Pilgrimage
Catholic Association Pilgrimage
The Catholic Association of the UK, abbreviated to the CA, has been around in one form or another since 1881 and ran its first pilgrimage to Lourdes in 1901...
to Lourdes. Bishop Hollis is the Patron of the Catholic Association Hospitalité.
Controversy
Bishop Hollis has been criticized for his toleration of brothels. In other political subjects, he supported Barack Obama'sBarack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
candidacy for President of the United States
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 2008..
In November 2011, the High Court ruled that Roman Catholic priests were not self-employed, as had been argued by lawyers acting for Bishop Hollis. The ruling refers to a civil action being brought by a 47-year old who claims that she was subjected to repeated sexual assault in a care home in the Diocese of Portsmouth. The "self-employment" defence had been put forward by the Diocese to justify the argument that a Roman Catholic diocese was not responsible for the actions of its priests.