Breaking: Dean of Winchester quits

The Very Reverend Catherine Ogle, Dean of Winchester Cathedral, is to retire next May, after eight years in the post, it was announced this morning. Dean Catherine said: ‘For some years I’ve planned my retirement for 2025. This is the year that my husband reaches the age of 70 and we both feel that it’s the right time for us to move on into a new stage of life.

‘Christian ministry is always a privilege. Serving as Dean of Winchester has been the greatest honour. I never imagined, when I became one of the first women to be ordained priest in the Church of England back in 1994, that God’s calling would lead here.’

Bishop Philip Mounstephen said: ‘Notwithstanding the challenges of the last few months, I am immensely grateful to Dean Catherine not only for the warmth of her personal welcome to me, since I arrived as bishop, but also for the excellence of the ministry she has exercised at the Cathedral, making it a place of generous hospitality and uplifting worship.’

Dean Catherine, who is 63, was previously the Dean of Birmingham.

The Bishop is engaged in a far-reaching investigation into bullying allegations that led to the departure of the Cathedral’s director of music. Dean Catherine is not personally implicated, but the alleged events took place on her watch.

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