Patricia Hillas appointed new Isle of Man bishop

Patricia Hillas succeeds the Right Reverend Peter Eagles, who retired last October

The new Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man has been named as the Venerable Patricia Hillas.

Currently Archdeacon and Canon of Westminster as well as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, she takes over from the Right Reverend Peter Eagles, who retired last October.

Ven Hillas said: "I hope we shall treasure the traditions of the past whilst looking to the new opportunities ahead."

Sodor and Man is the smallest diocese in the Church of England, overseeing 45 churches and 27 parishes.

After years of visiting as a guest, she said she was "thrilled to be called to make my home there, along with Andrew my husband, and to serve the island".

She said will be consecrated in York Minster on 10 October before being installed at Cathedral Isle of Man in Peel later in the year.

The appointment comes amid ongoing debate about the bishop's right to vote in Tynwald.

Wisdom and faithfulness

Stephen Cottrell, the Archbishop of York, said she was a "person of great wisdom and faithfulness" who "knows and loves the Isle of Man".

Paying tribute to her time as Chaplain to the Speaker of the House of Commons, Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he could not think of a "kinder or more engaging person than Tricia to take up the post".

She was an "amazing colleague who has been at my side during some of the most turbulent and challenging times, but also among the most celebratory".

Born in 1966 in Kuala Lumpur to an Indian mother and British father, she moved to the UK with her family in 1971.

After a career in youth and social work specialising in supporting people with HIV and AIDS, she was ordained in 2002.