Province York Cathedral St German's, Peel | Diocese Sodor and Man Website Bishop's office | |
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese covers the Isle of Man. The see is in the town of Peel where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of St German, elevated to cathedral status on 1 November 1980. The termination "and Man" appears to have been added in the 17th century and the designation "Sodor and Man" had become a fixture by 1684.
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The bishop is an ex officio member of the Legislative Council of the Isle of Man, the upper house of the Tynwald, Man's parliament.
The right to nominate to the See of Sodor and Man rests with the Crown, which acts, perhaps somewhat anomalously (in view of Man's status as a Crown Dependency), on the advice of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
The See is currently vacant following the retirement on 11 November 2016 of Robert Paterson; in the vacancy, the acting bishop is Richard Blackburn, Bishop of Warrington (suffragan bishop of the Diocese of Liverpool).
Diocese
The diocese covers the Isle of Man. The see is in the town of Peel where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of St German, elevated to cathedral status on 1 November 1980.
The present Anglican diocese is called "Sodor and Man".
In the Middle Ages, the diocese was considered part of Scotland, and was not under the control of either the Archbishop of York or the Archbishop of Canterbury. During the Great Schism, the pope at Rome created a different line of bishops that was in the southern part of the diocese. In 1542, an act of Parliament during the reign of King Henry VIII of England included the diocese in the province of York.
Tables
(Dates in italics indicate de facto continuation of office)
List of Bishops of Mann and the Isles
The bishops of Mann and the Isles (Latin: Manniae et Insularum) were also styled bishops of Sodor (Old Norse: Suðreyjar; Latin: Sodoren; meaning Southern Isles, which comprised the Hebrides, the islands of the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Man).
In literature
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is mentioned in the song "If you Want a Receipt for that Popular Mystery" sung by Colonel Calverley in the operetta Patience (1881) by Gilbert and Sullivan. The song lists the elements of a Heavy Dragoon, including "Style of the Bishop of Sodor and Man". The reference is to Rowley Hill (Bishop 1877-1887).