'Serving as Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross has been a privilege'

After over two decades of service, the Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Paul Colton, has stepped into retirement.

Concluding a significant chapter in both his church and public life, Bishop Colton was the longest serving Church of Ireland bishop of the diocese since 1617.

Of the serving bishops in the Church of Ireland, he was the last to be consecrated in the 20th century.

From his Diocesan office, Bishop Colton tells The Echo that serving in the role has been a huge privilege to serve in the position.

“A huge trust is placed in you by those who elected you. I've really enjoyed the engagement with the people and the place.

“It would be naive to think that it's plain sailing. There are always in any walk of life, huge challenges and difficulties and so on.

“Of course, you make mistakes and you learn from the mistakes and you hope people forgive you for the mistakes.

“But as I said last September when we met as a diocese when I was talking about my retirement, I'd been watching Sinner playing Alcaraz at Flushing Meadow in the US Open Tennis. On that occasion Alcaraz beat Sinner.

“At the end of it, Sinner said 'I could do no more and I did my best'. I said to myself, gosh that is how I feel.” 

Appointed in 1999, Bishop Colton has been a prominent voice not just within the Church of Ireland, but also in wider Irish society.

He often contributed to debates on key social issues, ethics and the role faith has to play in a changing Ireland, including the changing landscape and the dangers posed by social media.

This included being the first Church Of Ireland Bishop to openly support same sex marriage.

Bishop Colton very much feels the Church Of Ireland has an important role to play in the conversations about the wider issues across society.

“A lot of the people think we should butt out and have nothing to say. When you look at the bible in general, there is plenty of engagement with realities.

“So, it's not right to say that the church should stick to praying and stick out of politics.

“I always say we should pray with the bible in one hand and as one archbishop famously said, with the newspaper in the other. But today you have to have the social media feed in the other hand as well as your praying.

“As Christians, we believe Jesus came to this earth and made himself fully human. So therefore he engaged with the reality, total reality.

“That's what it's all about. So, a church that doesn't engage with the reality is what I would say is to be so heavenly minded to be of no earthly use.” Of course there is an obvious clear example in the regard of a religious leader speaking about issues impacting on society.

The head of the catholic church Pope Leo XIV recently criticised leaders who spend billions on wars and said the world was "being ravaged by a handful of tyrants" during a recent. visit to Cameroon.

The US president Donald Trump posted a lengthy attack on the Pope, who has been a vocal critic of the US-Israeli military operation in Iran.

Bishop Colton adds:

“Obviously, it's not for me to comment on Pope Leo and on that particular interaction.

“But all I would say is that, as I look on, I admire the way that he's speaking up for the christian view of things like war and peace and conflict.

“That's what we're there to do. I mean, after all Jesus said blessed are the peacemakers. So we have to pass that message on and tease out what that means for our own time.” Over his time as the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, Bishop Colton had the strong backing of his wife Susan and their two adult sons.

They have been a pillar of support over the years, in a period which has brought plenty of standout highlights and memories for Bishop Colton.

“There are hundreds and the best memories are all to do with people, you know, and moments in their lives.

“Some of them were very joyful, of course, people's weddings and baptisms and celebrations.

“Then, of course, there were tragedies and there were sad times as well. Journeying with people in those times was an immense responsibility and a very humbling privilege.

“Then, of course, there was the things going on in the world “Just after I arrived, the euro was introduced. Then we had the explosion of social media, the smartphone came along and changed everything.

He continues:

“We had 9/11 in the States. There's never been a time when there haven't been wars and conflicts somewhere throughout the world, which has been very sobering.

“Then with the economic crash, which caused an awful lot of suffering and tragedy locally and around the world.

“Then along came the pandemic and I was very involved in the Cork County and Cork City community forums throughout that, to see what we could do remotely and practically.

“Of course no sooner was that petering out then with war in Ukraine on our own continent.

“All the time Ireland was changing and attitudes were changing.” With regards to the future of the Church of Ireland, Bishop Colton feels that there still a very prominent role for it to play.

“I think the challenges that the Church of Ireland faces aren't unique to the Church of Ireland.

“There are changing attitudes to religion and that's fine. There are many people out there who describe themselves as not religious and so on. So, we have a much more diverse and fluid society.

“But I'm seeing and still seeing a lot of faithfulness, seeing a lot of religion and seeing a lot of engagement with spirituality.

“It's true to say that more and more people are doing it outside the institution of the church. So it is a changing pattern.

“I think that the main things that the church is facing are things that society as a whole faces. The people who have no homes or are finding it hard to get on the housing ladder, they are the people who are in our parishes.” Something which does concern Bishop Colton overall in relation to the modern society is the danger of misinformation through social media.

Given the heightened anxiety around the world, including with wars in the Middle East and the fuel crisis which has a knock on impact on Ireland, Bishop Colton feels understanding and communication are key across society.

“My understanding is that simplistic answers are not usually the right ones either to complex situations.

“I think you have to wrestle and we have to do it, wrestle with people who have different views from us and make common ground.

“We did that during the pandemic. On the community response forums in the pandemic, we had people of totally different outlooks who normally weren't on the same side, and we were all on the same side.

“In my time as bishop, I've always said to people don't expect your bishop to have a magic wand to solve problems.

“My understanding is that simplistic answers are not usually the right ones either to complex situations.” On what the future holds for the Church of Ireland as a whole in general terms, Colton remains upbeat.

“The Church of Ireland is an all Ireland church, so it's very different around the country in different ways with different priorities.

“But in this part of the Church of Ireland, I still detect, yes, people think about the future and worry about what form will the church take because there are an awful lot of young people out there who don't find some of the attitudes of the church credible.

“But at the same time, they want to belong. So, I'm hopeful. The young people give me hope and the people of the diocese give me hope above all else.” Of course among of the many standout moments from the career of Bishop Colton was in 1999 when he married 'Posh and Becks' , David and Victoria Beckham at Luttrellstown Castle in Co Dublin.

Bishop Colton said he still keeps in contact with the Beckhams.

“I mean it's not regular or anything like that. But I mean I could pick up the phone and be in touch, that sort of thing. And they could pick up the phone if they needed me.

“On and off over the years they've kept in touch and I've been to visit them since.

“When they were 25 years married in 2024 on their wedding anniversary, they sent me flowers. Which I thought was a lovely touch.” In relation to what advice, he would have for his successor as the Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross, he concluded:

“My advice would be obviously to be faithful to the tradition, to engage with the exciting new realities, to listen carefully to the people, to draw on the strengths of the people and to work with others.

“Above all else, to spend time getting to know and to love the place and the people that we call County Cork.”