News

The Archdiocese of Southwark announces the following appointments.

Parish Priests and Parochial Administrators

Fr Dermott O’Gorman, whilst remaining Youth Director, will also become Parish Priest of The Most Holy Trinity, Bermondsey, Dockhead. He will succeed the late Canon Alan McLean.

Fr Bartlomiej Dudek, whilst remaining Parish Priest of St Thomas More, Dulwich, will also become Parish Priest of St Margaret Clitherow, Dulwich Wood Park. He will succeed Fr Luke Marappillil MST, who is retiring. The clergy of Dulwich, including Fr Allan MacDonald and Fr George Humble Opio, will share responsibility for the pastoral care of Dulwich Wood Park.

Fr Gerald Walsh O.Carm has been appointed Parish Priest of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Faversham, with effect from 1 July 2026. He is presently a member of the Carmelite community at Aylesford and succeeds Fr Kevin Melody O.Carm, who is taking up a new appointment within the Order outside the Archdiocese.

Fr Kenneth Iwunna CSSp, presently Assistant Priest at St Saviour, Lewisham, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of St Joseph, Greenwich East, with effect from 1 August 2026. He succeeds Fr Patrice Anyanwu CSSp, who is taking up a new appointment within the Spiritan Order outside the Archdiocese.

Fr Issac Adjei-Aniwah, presently Assistant Priest at St Anselm, Tooting Bec, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of the Sacred Heart, Goudhurst. He succeeds Fr Damian Iloigwe, whose long-term appointment in the Archdiocese ends this summer and who will return to his home Diocese in Nigeria.

Fr John Eyike, presently Assistant Priest at St Thomas of Canterbury, Sevenoaks, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of St Thomas of Canterbury, Deal. He succeeds Canon Brian Coyle, who is retiring.

Fr Cyriacus Okafor, presently Parochial Administrator of Our Lady of the Crays, Cray Valley, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of Our Lady Help of Christians, Mottingham, and St Patrick, Chislehurst West. He succeeds Fr Marian (Mario) Nycz SDB, who is moving to St Teresa, Ashford.

Fr David Camilleri, presently on sabbatical, will return to the Archdiocese as Parish Priest of St Wilfrid, Kennington Park. He succeeds Fr Sebastian Joseph, who is moving to Our Lady of Grace, Charlton.

Fr Subba Rao Perumalla MF, of the Missionaries of Faith, St Peter’s Province, India, has been appointed Parish Priest of Our Lady of the Crays, Cray Valley. He has previously served in the Archdiocese of Birmingham and succeeds Fr Cyriacus Okafor. He will be joined at Cray Valley by another member of the Missionaries of Faith, who will serve as Assistant Priest.

Fr Sebastian Joseph, presently Parochial Administrator of St Wilfrid, Kennington Park, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of Our Lady of Grace, Charlton. The Spiritans will withdraw from the parish at the end of August, and Fr Vincent Nnatuanya CSSp will relinquish responsibility for Charlton whilst remaining at St Joseph, Shooters Hill.

Fr Andrew Bishop, presently Assistant Priest at St Edmund of Canterbury, Beckenham, has been appointed Parish Priest of Our Lady of Dover, Buckland. He succeeds Fr John Panario, who is retiring.

Fr Marian (Mario) Nycz SDB, presently Parochial Administrator of Our Lady Help of Christians, Mottingham, and St Patrick, Chislehurst West, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of St Teresa, Ashford. He succeeds Fr Alfred Osamor, who is moving to St Francis de Sales, Stockwell.

Fr Jonas Opoku-Gyamfi, presently Assistant Priest at St Peter the Apostle, Woolwich, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of St Andrew, Tenterden. He succeeds Fr Behruz Raf’at, who is moving to St Columba, Selsdon.

Fr Behruz Raf’at, presently Parish Priest of St Andrew, Tenterden, has been appointed Parish Priest of St Columba, Selsdon. He succeeds Fr Julian Shurgold, who is retiring.

Fr Tomasz Margol, presently Parochial Administrator of the Parish of The Faithful Virgin, Upper Norwood, is appointed as Parish Priest of the Parish of The Faithful Virgin, Upper Norwood.

Fr Alfred Osamor, presently Parish Priest of St Teresa, Ashford, has been appointed Parish Priest of St Francis de Sales, Stockwell. He succeeds Fr Michael Faneye MSP, who is taking up a new appointment within his Society outside the Archdiocese.

Fr Vincent Nnatuanya CSSp, presently responsible for Our Lady of Grace, Charlton, and St Joseph, Shooters Hill, has been appointed Parish Priest of St Joseph, Shooters Hill. He will relinquish responsibility for Charlton when the Spiritans withdraw from the parish and Fr Sebastian Joseph assumes responsibility there.

Fr Michael Sileshi, has been appointed Parochial Administrator of Holy Family, Sutton Green, following a period of sabbatical. He will succeed Fr Patrick Ryan, who is retiring

Assistant Priests and Chaplaincy Appointments

Fr Mark Wharton has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Saviour, Lewisham. He succeeds Fr Kenneth Iwunna CSSp, who is moving to St Joseph, Greenwich East.

Fr Theodore Uzochukwu, of the Diocese of Nnewi, Nigeria, has been accepted as a long-term supply priest in the Archdiocese for a period of three years and appointed Assistant Priest at St Edmund of Canterbury, Beckenham. He succeeds Fr Andrew Bishop, who is moving to Our Lady of Dover, Buckland.

Fr Frazer Bellfield, presently Assistant Priest at Our Lady Help of Christians, Blackheath Village, has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Thomas of Canterbury, Sevenoaks. He succeeds Fr John Eyike, who is moving to St Thomas of Canterbury, Deal.

Fr Matthew Donnelly, presently resident at Holy Cross, Catford, has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Anselm, Tooting Bec. He succeeds Fr Issac Adjei-Aniwah, who is moving to the Sacred Heart, Goudhurst.

Fr Thushyanthan Anthonippillai, of the Diocese of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, has been appointed Assistant Chaplain to the Tamil Chaplaincy, serving across the Diocese of Westminster and the Archdiocese of Southwark. He will reside at the Tamil Catholic Chaplaincy, 304 Garratt Lane, London SW18 4EH.

Fr David Christopher Selvaraj JH, of the Diocese of Dindigul, India, and a member of the Pious Association of Jesus the Healer, has been accepted as a long-term supply priest in the Archdiocese for a period of three years and appointed Assistant Priest at Our Lady Help of Christians, Blackheath Village. He succeeds Fr Frazer Bellfield, who is moving to St Thomas of Canterbury, Sevenoaks.

Fr Patrick Essien, presently Assistant Priest at St Joseph and St Swithun, Bromley Common, has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Peter the Apostle, Woolwich. He succeeds Fr Jonas Opoku- Gyamfi, who is moving to St Andrew, Tenterden.

Fr Jude Murray JHG, of the Diocese of Dindigul, India, and a member of the Pious Association of Jesus the Healer, has been accepted as a long-term supply priest in the Archdiocese for a period of three years and appointed Assistant Priest at St Joseph and St Swithun, Bromley Common. He succeeds Fr Patrick Essien, who is moving to St Peter the Apostle, Woolwich.

Fr Cruz Alexandre Fernandes, of the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman, India, has been accepted as a long-term supply priest in the Archdiocese for a period of three years and appointed Assistant Priest at Our Lady of Reparation, West Croydon. He succeeds Fr James Yakubu MSP, who has been appointed Chaplain to the University of Kent at Canterbury.

Fr James Yakubu MSP has been appointed Chaplain to the University of Kent at Canterbury. He succeeds Fr Mark Wharton, who has been appointed Assistant Priest at St Saviour, Lewisham.

The Metropolitan Chapter of St George

Following consultation with the Metropolitan Chapter of St George’s Cathedral, the following Canons have been appointed: 

Chapter Canons

• The Rev. Canon Graziano de Palma
• The Rev. Canon Simon Peat
• The Rev. Canon Saju Pinakkattu

Honorary Canon

• The Rev. Canon Philip Andrews

Vocations - appointments

Fr Paul Kyne completes his five-year appointment as Vocations Director this summer, and we express our deep gratitude to him for his dedication and commitment. He has been able to establish a solid foundation for the promotion and accompaniment of vocations in the Archdiocese, for which we are all very thankful.

We are grateful to Fr Ola Craig, recently appointed Assistant Vocations Director, who has worked alongside Fr Paul in the past year, and who will continue in this role of support for the new Vocations Director.

Fr Matthew O’Gorman has been appointed as Vocations Director from 1 September 2026, and we are grateful to him for his generosity in accepting this appointment in addition to his parish and other duties. As well as being supported by Fr Ola, Fr Pawel Sobel and Fr Daniel Weatherley have accepted membership of a newly created Vocations Team as Assistant Vocations Directors, in addition to their parish and other duties. We are gratefully encouraged by their positive and generous response.

Thank you to every priest for encouraging vocations to the priesthood for our Archdiocese, which are much needed for our mission into the future.

Ongoing Formation (OGF) – appointments

Bishop Gerard Bradley has been OGF Director for the past few years, and we are deeply grateful to him, the OGF Focus Group, and others, for all that has been achieved to help provide ongoing formation for the human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral areas of our lives. Bishop Gerard, since becoming an Auxiliary, has had increasing calls on his time, and consequently, he will need to give up his OGF Director role this summer.

We are grateful to Fr Francis Murphy, who has generously accepted the appointment as Director of Ongoing Formation from 1 September 2026, while continuing with his parish and other duties. We are also grateful for the continued support of the OGF Focus Group, who, for the time being, will work alongside Fr Francis to assist his transition into the role.

Please join us in praying for all the clergy in our Archdiocese.

Further appointments will be announced in due course.