Fr Stuart Chipolina appointed first Cathedral parish priest since 1920s

Father Stuart Chipolina has been appointed the first parish priest and administrator of the Cathedral of St Mary the Crowned in around a century.

Fr Stuart is the first parish priest to be appointed at the Cathedral since Padre Telmo Dodero in the 1920s.

Fr Stuart was appointed by Bishop Charles Azzopardi and will be responsible for both administration and pastoral work at the Cathedral, where he will be officiating sacraments, funerals, weddings and baptisms.

Bishop Azzopardi also appointed Monsignor Paul Bear as Vicar General, Monsignor John Pardo as Episcopal Vicar for finance, Fr Michael Bonifacio as Chancellor of the Diocese, Fr Rolly Espiritu as consultor.

Fr Stuart was asked to take up the role as soon as Bishop Azzopardi found out he was going to be ordained as Bishop of Gibraltar.

Fr Stuart was ordained as a priest in 1992 alongside Bishop Azzopardi and they worked closely together in the years since.

The two have been friends for over 50 years, they trained as priests together, were ordained together and have worked together in the priesthood.

Five years ago, Fr Stuart moved from Gibraltar to Cadiz where he was the parish priest in Medina Sidonia.

Bishop Azzopardi asked him to return to Gibraltar and in response Fr Stuart “immediately said yes”.

He arrived in Gibraltar on December 20, just after Bishop Azzopardi was ordained.

Bishop Azzopardi said he decided to revive the role as he felt it was important to the community to have a parish priest.

The role had previously been changed to solely administrator in line with the practice in theUK and Wales, where cathedrals are run by administrators and not as a parish.

Fr Stuart said he was ready to take on this demanding job and welcome parishioners to the church.

He said he will continue the work of Bishop Azzopardi to ensure the church has a human touch and a community built on faith where people feel welcome.

Fr Stuart is the youngest Gibraltarian priest and will be 59 next month, adding that the church needs to promote the vocation of priesthood to young Gibraltarians.

For Bishop Azzopardi, the appointment of Fr Stuart means he will be able to travel around and meet with the public more freely.

Bishop Azzopardi will be holding services across holy week in the Cathedral, St Theresa’s, Sacred Heart, and Catalan Bay Church.

This means he will be able to engage directly with more people in the community during this holy period.