imported>Frietjes at 19:17, 5 June 2025

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{{Short description|Bishop of Argyll and the Islands}}
{{for|the politician|Roderick Wright (politician)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = bishop
| honorific-prefix = The Right Reverend
| name = Roderick Wright
| honorific-suffix =
| title = [[Bishop of Argyll and the Isles (Catholic)|Bishop of Argyll and the Isles]]
| image =
| imagesize =
| alt =
| caption =
| church =
| province = [[Province of Saint Andrews and Edinburgh|St Andrews and Edinburgh]]
| diocese = [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles|Argyll and the Isles]]
| appointed = 11 December 1990
| ended = 19 September 1996
| predecessor = [[Colin Aloysius MacPherson|Colin MacPherson]]
| successor = [[Ian Murray (bishop)|Ian Murray]]
| other_post =

| ordination = 29 June 1964 ([[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|Priest]])
| ordinated_by =
| consecration = 15 January 1991 ([[Bishop (Catholic Church)|Bishop]])
| consecrated_by = [[Luigi Barbarito]]

| birth_name =
| birth_date = 28 June 1940
| birth_place = [[Glasgow]], [[Scotland]]
| death_date = 23 May 2005 (aged 64)
| death_place = [[Napier, New Zealand|Napier]]
| buried =
| nationality = [[Scottish people|Scottish]]
| religion = [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]]
| residence =
| parents =
| spouse = Kathleen (m. June 1998)
| children = One son
| occupation =
| profession =
| alma_mater =
| motto =
| signature =
}}
'''Roderick Wright''' (28 June 1940 – 23 May 2005) was a [[Scottish people|Scottish]] [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]] bishop who served as the [[Bishop of Argyll and the Isles (Catholic)|Bishop of Argyll and the Isles]] from 1990 to 1996.<ref name=chbwrightr>{{Catholic-hierarchy|bishop|bwrightr|Bishop Roderick Wright|6 October 2010}}</ref>

==Early life==
Born in the Kingston district of [[Glasgow]] on 28 June 1940,<ref name=chbwrightr/><ref name=heraldbpwright>{{cite news |title=Roderick Wright Former Bishop of Argyll and the Isles |author=Lorn MacIntyre |newspaper=[[The Herald (Glasgow)|The Herald]] |date=25 May 2005 |url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/sport/spl/aberdeen/roderick-wright-former-bishop-of-argyll-and-the-isles-1.53206 |accessdate=7 October 2010}}</ref> Wright was one of four children of a working-class [[Merchant Navy|merchant seaman]]. His parents were Andrew 'Andra' Wright and Dolina 'Dolly' MacInnes, who both came from the [[Outer Hebrides]]: Andrew came from [[Eriskay]], and Dolina came from South Boisdale, South Uist. Roddy Wright, as he was known to family and friends, was educated at St Gerard's Secondary School in [[Govan]]. He began training for the [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priesthood]] at [[Blairs College]] in [[Kincardineshire]] when he was fourteen, and went on to [[St Peter's Seminary, Cardross]] in 1958.<ref name=telegraphrwobit>{{cite news |title=The Rt Rev Roderick Wright |newspaper=[[The Daily Telegraph]] |date=26 May 2005 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/1490736/The-Rt-Rev-Roderick-Wright.html}}</ref><ref name=adventwright>{{cite web |url=http://www.adventgroup.org.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=231&Itemid=52 |title=Obituary – Roderick Wright |date=3 June 2003 |work=Advent Group (UK) |accessdate=7 October 2010}}</ref>

==Ministry==
;Priesthood
After Wright was [[Holy orders|ordained]] a [[Priesthood (Catholic Church)|priest]] on 29 June 1964, his first [[Pastoral care|pastoral]] appointments were at St Laurence's Church, [[Drumchapel]], [[Glasgow]] (1964–1966), and St Jude's Church, [[Barlanark]], Glasgow (1966–1969). He returned to Blairs College as spiritual director (1969–1974). His next appointment was as an assistant priest at Our Lady and St Mun's [[Dunoon]], [[Argyll]] (1974–1976). For a short while, he acted as a [[chaplain]] to the [[United States Navy]] base at [[Holy Loch]]. His last three appointments before his [[Episcopal polity|episcopal ordination]] were as priest at St Mary's Church, [[Fort William, Scotland|Fort William]] (1976–1980); St Michael's Church, Ardkenneth, [[South Uist]] (1980–1986); and St Anne's Church, Corpach, near [[Fort William, Scotland|Fort William]] (1986–1991).<ref name=telegraphrwobit/><ref name=adventwright/>

;Episcopate
Wright was appointed the [[Bishop (Catholic Church)|bishop]] of the [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Argyll and the Isles|Diocese of Argyll and the Isles]] by the [[Holy See]] on 11 December 1990 and [[Consecration|consecrated]] at [[St. Columba's Cathedral]] in [[Oban]] on 15 January 1991. The principal [[consecrator]] was [[Luigi Barbarito]], [[Titular Archbishop]] of ''[[Fiorentino]]'', [[Nuncio|Apostolic Pro-Nuncio]] to [[Great Britain]]. The principal co-consecrators were Cardinal [[Thomas Winning]], [[Archbishop of Glasgow]], and [[Keith O'Brien]], [[Archbishop of St. Andrews and Edinburgh]].<ref name=chbwrightr/><ref name=telegraphrwobit/>

==Resignation and marriage==
Wright disappeared from his home next door to [[St. Columba's Cathedral]], [[Oban]], on 4 September 1996. Kathleen MacPhee, a divorced mother of three who worked as a nurse in [[Fort William, Scotland|Fort William]], vanished at the same time leaving her youngest child with relatives. There was concern among local people, including [[Frances Shand Kydd]], the mother of [[Diana, Princess of Wales]]. Wright had advised Shand-Kydd before her reception into the Roman Catholic Church in 1994.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Church hopes to avert crisis over missing bishop |date=16 September 1996 }}</ref> The following weekend, a former parishioner of Wright's came forward to say that she had become pregnant by him and given birth to a son in 1981.<ref>{{Cite newspaper The Times |title=Runaway RC bishop has son aged 15 |date=20 September 1996 }}</ref>

Wright resigned as Bishop of Argyll and the Isles on 19 September 1996 and renounced the office of bishop.<ref name=chbwrightr/>

Wright registered as unemployed and was spotted looking for work in the [[Jobcentre Plus|Jobcentre]] in [[Kendal]], [[Cumbria]], England.<ref>{{cite news |title=It's His Doliness |newspaper=[[Sunday Mirror]] |date=1 December 1996 }}</ref> In his autobiography, he alleged that Jobcentre staff had leaked information about him. Wright married MacPhee in a [[civil ceremony]] in [[Antigua]] in June 1998.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/274132.stm |title=Former Catholic bishop's secret wedding |date=7 February 1999 |work=[[BBC]] Online Network |accessdate=7 October 2010}}</ref>

==Death==
In 2002, Wright and his wife emigrated to [[New Zealand]]. He suffered in his last months from [[liver cancer]]<ref name=telegraphrwobit/> and died on 23 May 2005, aged 64.<ref name=chbwrightr/>

{{Portal|Catholicism}}
==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Colin Aloysius MacPherson|Colin MacPherson]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Bishop of Argyll and the Isles (Catholic)|Bishop of Argyll and the Isles]]
|years=1990–1996}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Ian Murray (bishop)|Ian Murray]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Roderick}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:2005 deaths]]
[[Category:20th-century Roman Catholic bishops in Scotland]]
[[Category:Roman Catholic bishops of Argyll and the Isles]]
[[Category:Clergy from Glasgow]]
[[Category:Scottish military chaplains]]
[[Category:Scottish Roman Catholic bishops]]

Roderick Wright - Revision history

imported>Frietjes at 19:17, 5 June 2025