The Right Revd Alan Hopes
The Rt Rev Alan Stephen Hopes was born in Oxford, England on March 17, 1944 and was educated at Oxford High School until he moved to London in 1956, when he attended Enfield Grammar School. In 1966 he took a degree in theology at King’s College London and then attended Warminster Theological College.
In 1968 he was ordained for ministry in the Church of England and served as an Anglican priest until 1994 when he was received into the Catholic Church.
He was ordained a Catholic priest on December 4, 1995, by Cardinal Basil Hume in Westminster Cathedral, and for three years served as Assistant Priest at Our Lady of Victories in Kensington, London, before becoming Parish Priest of the Holy Redeemer and St Thomas More Parish, Chelsea.
In 2001, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor appointed him Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Westminster and in 2002 became a member of The Bishops’ Conference Committee for Liturgy and Worship. The following year on January 4, 2003 he was appointed by Pope (now Saint) John Paul II as an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster with the title of Titular Bishop of Cuncacestre (Chester-le-Street) successor to Saint Cuthbert.
This appointment made him one of the most senior members of Catholic clergy to have converted in the 1990s. On January 24, 2003, he was ordained to the Episcopate in Westminster Cathedral by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor.
In October 2010, Bishop Alan was appointed as Episcopal Delegate of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales for the implementation of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus promulgated by Pope Benedict XVI to enable those members of the Church of England seeking full communion with the Catholic Church to be received and maintain many of their liturgical practices.
On June 11, 2013, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Alan as the fourth Bishop of East Anglia and he was duly installed on July 16, 2013 at St John the Baptist Cathedral, Norwich.
He is Chairman of The Committee for Liturgy and is a member of the Bishops’ Conference Department of Life and Worship.
In November 2014 Bishop Alan was made a Knight Commander with Star of The Equestrian Order of The Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
On December 14, 2022, Bishop Alan ordained his successor as Bishop of East Anglia, Bishop Peter Collins, at St John the Baptist Cathedral in Norwich. He then became Bishop Emeritus for the Diocese.
Bishop Alan Stephen Hopes’ Coat-of-Arms by grant of the College of Arms
The red Saltire Cross of Saint Patrick denoting the Bishop’s birthday – 17 March
The Anchor – the symbol of ‘Hope’ – a play on his Surname
The division of the shield in silver (white) and gold (yellow) – the Vatican colours
The fleur de lys, symbolising Our Lady – Patroness of East Anglia under the title of Our Lady of Walsingham and three of them denoting each of the counties forming the Diocese: Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire
The Cross indicates the arms as those of a bishop
The galero with twelve tassles is the heraldic hat of a prelate and the colour green denotes he is a bishop
The translation of the Bishop’s motto: Voluntas Sua Pax Nostra is His Will is Our Peace
Photographs from Bishop Alan’s installation:
Video from Bishop Alan’s Installation:
Malcolm Robertson reports from ITV Anglia on Vimeo.