Fr Barry Lomax, a diocesan priest and Force Lead Chaplain for Greater Manchester Police, was made a Fellow of the Catholic Police Guild at their annual National Requiem Mass, celebrated in Westminster Cathedral, London.

The Fellowship is the Guild’s highest honour and the National Executive Committee voted unanimously to present the award to Fr Barry, who has served as a Police Chaplain with Greater Manchester Police since 2001.

Fr. Barry said: “I was honoured to receive the Fellowship from Rt Rev Alan Williams SM, Bishop of Brentwood. It came as a complete surprise to me, and the citation read aloud in the Cathedral by Paul Connolly was moving to hear.”

In his citation announcing the decision, Paul Connolly, National Chair of the Guild, described Fr Barry as “someone who has provided long and meritorious service or in some special way has enhanced the standing of the guild.”

He added: “Since 2013, he has been the National Chaplain to The Catholic Police Guild and his help and advice to me, my predecessors as Chair and those both in the Guild and not in the Guild, can never be measured.