Bishopric of the Forces in Great Britain

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Bishop of the Forces
Bishopric
catholic
Incumbent: Paul James Mason
Information
First holder	Francis Walmsley
Denomination	Catholic Church
Sui iuris church	Latin Church
Rite	Multiple (primarily Roman Rite)
Established	Military bishopric in 1917, Military vicariate in 1953, Military ordinariate in 1986
Cathedral	Cathedral of St Michael and St George, Aldershot
Website
www.rcbishopricforces.org.uk

The Bishopric of the Forces (in Great Britain) is a Latin Church military ordinariate of the Catholic Church which provides chaplains to the British Armed Forces based in the United Kingdom and their overseas postings.^[1][2][3]

It is directly exempt to the Holy See and its Roman Congregation for Bishops and is not part of any ecclesiastical province, whilst being a full member of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. The chaplains (padres) are drawn from the dioceses of England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and the Commonwealth, as well as from some religious orders. Chaplains have spiritual and pastoral care of military personnel and their families.

Until 1986, military ordinariates were called "military vicariates" and had a status similar to that of apostolic vicariates which are headed by a bishop who receives his authority by delegation from the Pope. The apostolic constitution Spirituali Militum Curae of 21 April 1986 raised their status, declaring that the bishop who heads one of them is an "ordinary", holding authority by virtue of his office, and not by delegation from another person in authority.

There is sometimes confusion between the holder of this Catholic post and the Anglican "Bishop to the Forces": for this reason the former is normally referred to as "the Roman Catholic Bishop of the Forces".