The Bishop of Dover is an episcopal title used by a suffragan bishop of the Church of England Diocese of Canterbury, England. The title takes its name after the town of Dover in Kent. The Bishop of Dover holds the additional title of "Bishop in Canterbury" and is empowered to act almost as if the Bishop of Dover were the diocesan bishop of Canterbury, since the actual diocesan bishop (the Archbishop of Canterbury) is based at Lambeth Palace in London, and thus is frequently away from the diocese, fulfilling national and international duties. Among other things, this gives the Bishop of Dover an ex officio seat in the church's General Synod. There is another suffragan, the Bishop of Maidstone, who has different responsibilities.
The role of the Bishop of Dover in the Diocese of Canterbury is comparable to that of the Cardinal Vicar in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rome, who exercises most functions that the Pope, the Bishop of Rome, formally has in his own diocese. The arrangements by which the Bishop of Dover acts as if the Bishop of Dover were the diocesan bishop date from 1980,The Times, 3 June 1980; p. 4; Issue 60641; col B, Church change to ease work of archbishop under provisions in section 10 of the Dioceses Measure 1978. The 2001 report To Lead and to Serve recommended making these arrangement more permanent and styling the pseudo–diocesan bishop as "Bishop in Canterbury";To Lead and to Serve: The Report of the Review of the See of Canterbury, p. 5 (Accessed 16 November 2015) that style was already in use before the review.Church of England — Review of the See of Canterbury (Accessed 16 November 2015)
The current bishop of Dover is Rose Hudson-Wilkin. She was consecrated at St Paul's Cathedral on 19 November 2019 and installed at Canterbury Cathedral on 30 November 2019.
List of bishops of Dover Bishops of Dover From Until Incumbent Notes 1536 1545 Richard Yngworth Consecrated on 9 December 1536; died in 1545. 1545 1557 Richard Thornden Consecrated in 1545; died in 1557. 1557 1569 no appointment 1569 1597 Richard Rogers Consecrated on 15 May 1569; died 19 May 1597. 1597 1870 in abeyance 1870 1890 Edward Parry 1890 1897 Rodney Eden Translated to Wakefield. 1898 1916 William Walsh 1916 1927 Harold Bilbrough Translated to Newcastle. 1927 1934 John Macmillan Translated to Guildford. 1935 1957 Alfred Rose 1957 1964 Lewis Meredith 1964 1980 Anthony Tremlett 1980 1992 Richard Third Formerly Bishop of Maidstone; first pseudo-diocesan. 1992 1999 Richard Llewellin Formerly Bishop of St Germans. 1999 2009 Stephen Venner (b. 1944). Formerly Bishop of Middleton. 2010 2019 Trevor Willmott (b. 1951). Formerly Bishop of Basingstoke; retired 12 May 2019.Diocese of Canterbury — Bishop of Dover announces retirement (Accessed 12 October 2018) 2019 present Rose Hudson-Wilkin Formerly Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons. Consecrated 19 November 2019. Installed 30 November 2019. Source(s):
References
External links Crockford's Clerical Directory - Listings