David Konstant

Early life and ministry

David Konstant was born in London to parents Antoine Konstant and Dulcie Marion Beresford Konstant (née Leggatt). He graduated with an MA from Christ's College, Cambridge, and gained a PGCE from the University of London's Institute of Education. Konstant went on to study for the priesthood at St Edmund's College, Ware, leading to his ordination as a priest on 12 June 1954 by Cardinal Bernard Griffin.

Konstant's initial posts were as teachers in Catholic schools. In 1954, he was appointed to Cambridge Technical College & School of Arts. A year later, in 1955, Konstant was appointed to Christ's College, Cambridge, and, in 1958, the University of London and its Institute of Education, the college and university that he himself had attended. In the 1960s he was appointed assistant headmaster at the Cardinal Vaughan Grammar School for Boys, West Kensington, before becoming a diocesan adviser on religious education in 1966. His final school posting was as acting head teacher at St Michael's Secondary School in Stevenage in 1967. His final post before consecration as a bishop was in 1970 as Director of the Westminster Religious Education Centre.

Episcopal career

On 28 March 1977 he was appointed as an auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster and Titular Bishop of Betagbarar. On 25 April 1977, he was consecrated bishop, the principal consecrator being Cardinal Basil Hume, along with auxiliary bishops Gerald Mahon and Victor Guazzelli as co-consecrators.

Roman Catholic Bishop of Leeds

On 12 July 1985, he was named as Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Leeds and was installed as the eighth Bishop of Leeds on 25 September 1985.

In May 2001, Konstant suffered a stroke while leading a pilgrimage to Lourdes in south-western France. Although he was able to recover and return to work, he asked that a coadjutor bishop be appointed to help him in his ministry to the Diocese of Leeds. On 16 July 2002, Arthur Roche was appointed coadjutor bishop, with right to succession.

Konstant resigned as Bishop of Leeds, aged 73, on 7 April 2004, after 18½ years in the post, becoming Bishop Emeritus of Leeds. Arthur Roche succeeded him as the 9th Bishop of Leeds.

During his tenure as an auxiliary bishop Westminster and then as Bishop of Leeds, Konstant held several other posts, mostly relating to education. These include: Chairman of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales Department for Catholic Education and Formation, Episcopal Advisor to the Catholic Teachers' Federation, Chairman of the Oxford and Cambridge Catholic Education Board, Member of the International Editorial Committee for the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Chairman of the Catholic Education Service, Episcopal Adviser to the Catholic Institute for International Affairs, Member of the Standing Committee of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales and Chairman of the Department for International Affairs and Committee for International Justice and Peace, Bishops' Conference of England and Wales.

Post episcopal career

In 2004 he was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws by Leeds Metropolitan University. In 2006, the University of Bradford also awarded him an honorary doctorate of the University. He was given these awards in recognition of his contributions as Bishop of Leeds, as well as his work in education and interfaith relations in Bradford.

David Konstant died on 9 October 2016. A solemn requiem mass was held at Leeds Cathedral on 18 October 2016

Bishop Konstant Catholic Academy Trust

In November 2012, several Catholic primary and secondary schools in the Wakefield area, joined together to gain Academy status from the government, as a Catholic Multi Academy Trust. The Trust, the first in the Diocese of Leeds, took the name Bishop Konstant Catholic Multi Academy Trust. Ten primary schools and two secondary schools are operated by the trust.