New Dean appointed

The Queen has approved the nomination of the Reverend Canon Nicholas Charles Papadopulos, Canon Treasurer of Canterbury Cathedral and Director of Initial Ministerial Education 2 in the Diocese of Canterbury, to be appointed to the Deanery of Salisbury.

Canon Nick is travelling to Salisbury Cathedral this morning to meet Cathedral clergy, including the three residentiary Canons, staff and members of the Cathedral Chapter.

No stranger to this area, Canon Nick served as Senior Chaplain and Press Officer to the then Bishop of Salisbury from 2002 to 2007. Prior to that he also served in the Diocese of Portsmouth. He and his wife, Heather, and their two children, Barnaby and Thea, will live in the lovely 17^th century Deanery within the Cathedral Close.

The appointment of the new Dean follows the departure of the Very Revd June Osborne last July to become Bishop of Llandaff. In the interim, Canon Edward Probert, Chancellor of Salisbury Cathedral, has been Acting Dean and will continue in that role until Canon Nick is installed later in the year.

Salisbury is one of the Old Foundation cathedrals, which are those of medieval origin. Its first ever dean was appointed in the 12^th century, when the Cathedral was on its original site in Old Sarum. Today, the Dean is appointed by the Sovereign on the advice of the Prime Minister. The selection process for the role was overseen by the Rt Revd Nicholas Holtam, Bishop of Salisbury.

Commenting on Canon Nick’s appointment, Bishop Nicholas said, “Nick Papadopulos will be coming back to Salisbury which is a place he loves. He has a commitment to the Cathedral as a house of prayer in service to the wider community. I think this will be the best Easter present that the Cathedral congregation could have.  It also adds to that sense of Salisbury getting back to new life. We look forward to welcoming him with Heather, Barnaby and Thea in September.”

Canon Nick, the now Dean-designate of Salisbury, said, “Salisbury Cathedral shaped my early ministry, and taught me the immeasurable value of a shared life of prayer and the extraordinary power of worship. Returning as Dean is an awesome privilege – I am deeply grateful to all involved in the appointment process.

“I now look forward to working with a gifted and dedicated team of colleagues, staff and volunteers, and with partners across the city, the counties and the Diocese.

“We live in uncertain times, as the attack on the streets of Salisbury has brought home to us. But this is Holy Week, when we walk with Christ in his suffering and hear his words on the first Easter morning: ‘Do not be afraid’.

“Salisbury Cathedral embodies a Gospel of light in place of darkness, and hope in place of fear. I am thrilled to have been called to serve it.”

The Very Revd Dr Robert Willis, Dean of Canterbury said, “I am absolutely delighted that Canon Nick Papadopulos is to be the new Dean of Salisbury and offer my warmest congratulations. He will be very much missed here in Canterbury where he has been our Canon Treasurer for the past five years and successfully overseen the beginning of a huge project of restoration and of interaction with the local community.

“We shall miss him, Heather, Barnaby and Thea but I wish him every success in his new position and know that he will bring to it the same energy and vision he had shown here. “

Canon Nick will be installed as the 81^st Dean of Salisbury at Evensong on Sunday, 9 September. A short biography follows.

Canon Nicholas Papadopulos (Nick), aged 51, studied History at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, and Law at City University, London. He was called to the Bar by the Middle Temple in 1990 and practised at the criminal Bar for seven years. He trained for ministry at Ripon College Cuddesdon, and subsequently studied for his MA at King's College, London. He served his title as Assistant Curate at St Mark Portsea in the Diocese of Portsmouth from 1999 to 2002.

From 2002 to 2007 he was Senior Chaplain and Press Officer to the Bishop of Salisbury, and from 2007 to 2013 Vicar of Pimlico St Peter with Westminster Christ Church (St Peter’s Eaton Square) in the Diocese of London. Since 2013 he has been Canon Treasurer at Canterbury Cathedral and Director of Initial Ministerial Education 2in the Diocese of Canterbury.

Nick is married to Heather, and they have two teenage children. His interests include reading history, poetry and novels, listening to music (of all sorts), cooking and going to the gym and walking. He is also interested in Cyprus and Palestine.

UPDATE - 1830, 28 March

At the announcement of his appointment, Canon Nick said, “I fell in love with this place early on in my ministry. The steady heartbeat of its prayer and the captivating beauty of its worship were profoundly formative for me. Returning as Dean...if there was a Richter scale for jobs you dream of doing but don't believe you ever will - this would be off it by a Salisbury mile. It will be so good to get to know, and to work with the fantastic, gifted team here.

“The Cathedral sits at the heart of the city that grew around it and that it was built to serve. One of the things that I look forward to early in my time here will be the 800th anniversary of the founding of the cathedral and the city, in 2020.

“It also sits at the heart of the Diocese of Salisbury, the Anglican Christian presence in much of Wiltshire and Dorset. It is the mother church to nearly 500 parish churches - even more importantly, it is a co-worker with them in the mission of Jesus Christ. I know that colleagues around the Diocese will be praying for me today, and I am deeply grateful.

 “Anyone who engages seriously with the prayer and worship that made such an impression on me sixteen years ago cannot but be moved to an active concern for our world, whether it's the degradation of our environment, the struggles of South Sudan, or the issues of social justice that are on our doorsteps. We live, as has often been said, in troubled times, and in recent days nowhere has known that better than Salisbury.

“But this is Holy Week, when Christians walk step by step with Christ through the last days of his earthly life, days characterised by one friend's betrayal, another friend's denial, a sham trial, torture, and execution - in other words, by the very worst of which humans are capable. Yet Holy Week leads us to Easter Day, to an empty tomb, and to the promise of new life and new hope.

“The spire of this cathedral punches heavenwards and points all of us to that new life and new hope. I am humbled to have been called to serve it. Thank you.”