Church of Ireland Bishop of Cork, Cloyne and Ross Paul Colton has stepped into retirement, ending more than 25 years at the helm, a period that saw him become the longest-serving bishop of the diocese since 1617.
“A huge trust is placed in you,” he said. “I’ve really enjoyed the engagement with the people and the place.
“It would be naive to think that it has been
plain sailing. There are always, in any walk of life, huge challenges
and difficulties.
“Of course, you make mistakes and you learn from the mistakes and you hope people forgive you for the mistakes.
“Last September, when we met
as a diocese when I was talking about my retirement, I’d been watching
Sinner play 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’.”
Consecrated
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," he says.
"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 stay out of politics.
"But today, you have to have the social media feed in the other hand as well, as you’re 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 is to be so heavenly-minded to be of no earthly use.”
Of course, there is an obvious recent example of a religious leader speaking about issues impacting society.
Pope Leo XIV recently criticised leaders who spend billions on wars and
said the world was “being ravaged by a handful of tyrants”.
US president Donald Trump posted a lengthy attack on the Pope, who has been a vocal critic of the US-Israeli operation in Iran.
Bishop Colton said: “Obviously, it’s not for me to comment on Pope Leo and on that particular interaction.
"But all I would
say is that I admire the way that he’s speaking up for the Christian
view of things, like war, 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.”
During his time in office, 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 highlights and memories.
“There
are hundreds, and the best memories are all to do with people, 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.
“Of course, there were 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 adds: “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 there was war in Ukraine, on our own continent. All the time, Ireland was changing and attitudes were changing.”
Bishop Colton feels that the church still has a very prominent role to play.
“I think the
challenges that the Church of Ireland faces aren’t unique to the Church
of Ireland. There is changing attitudes to religion and that’s fine.
There are many people out there who describe themselves as not
religious. 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. It is a changing pattern.
“I
think that the main thing 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.”
Bishop
Colton highlights the danger of misinformation through social media for
society. 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 — he says communication is key across society.
“My
understanding is that simplistic answers are not usually the right ones
to complex situations. I think you have to wrestle [with issues] ...
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’.
On what the future holds for the Church of Ireland, Bishop 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, that people
think about the future and worry about what form the church will 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 the many standout moments from the career of Bishop
Colton was in 1999 when he married ‘Posh and Becks’ — Spice Girls member
Victoria Adams and footballer David 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 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 said: “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.”
