Bishop Sean had the pleasure of receiving the Venerable Dr (Air Vice-Marshal) Giles Legood at the Diocesan Office in Nicosia this week (Monday). As Chaplain-in-Chief and Archdeacon for the Royal Air Force, the Air Vice-Marshal holds the same position once held by the first bishop of our diocese, the Right Reverend Leonard Ashton, consecrated in 1974 as Assistant Bishop in the Archbishopric of Jerusalem and Bishop-designate of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf. The Diocese was finally established in 1976.

The Right Reverend Leonard Ashton was consecrated by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Michael Ramsey, at the RAF Central Church of St Clement Danes in London, where Bishop Leonard’s pectoral cross and episcopal ring are now on display.

Bishop Leonard served the Diocese until his retirement in 1983.