Our Parish Priest - Fr John

​

John Benedict Warrington was born in April 1967 in Cherry Hinton in Cambridge to Peter and Jenny Warrington and has two brothers, Andrew and Christopher. He has a niece and a nephew and five great nieces and nephews. The family lived in Cambridge, Lowestoft where John first went to school at St Mary’s Primary School. They then lived in Hornchurch in Essex until moving Norwich where John went to St Thomas More Middle School (now St Francis of Assisi Catholic Primary School) and then to Notre Dame High School. John left school and studied at City Collage in Norwich for a BTECH in Building before working for Stockings and Clarke Quantity Surveyors in Norwich. In 1985 John felt a calling to serve as a priest and two years later in October 1987 he started his formation at Ushaw College, near Durham for the Diocese. In 1992 John was ordained Deacon and in 1993 was ordained Priest in his home parish of the Cathedral Church of St John the Baptist in Norwich by Bishop Alan Clark, first Bishop of East Anglia.

​

John served as an assistant priest at St Edmund’s in Bury St Edmunds from 1993 to 1995, then as an assistant priest at St Peter and All Souls in Peterborough from 1995 to 1997.

​

From 1997 to 2003 John served as Parish Priest of the Parish of Our Lady of the Annunciation at Poringland also serving Loddon and as Bishops Private Secretary to Bishop Peter Smith, second Bishop of East Anglia (and Archbishop of Cardiff and Archbishop of Southwalk) and also to Bishop Michael Evans, third Bishop of East Anglia.

​

From 2003 to 2011 John was Parish Priest of St Luke’s Parish in Peterborough also serving Sawtry and Yaxley. From 2011 to 2018 John was Parish Priest of St Mary’s in Ipswich also serving Holy Family and St Michael, Kesgrave until sudden serious ill health and hospital treatment caused John to take time away from full time parish ministry.

​

John was treated with Kidney failure and a dissection his aorta artery. Since then, with the care and extraordinary dedication of our NHS in Ipswich, Colchester, Bury St Edmunds and Cambridge, and a great deal of love and prayer from so many parishioners, family and friends John has been recovering, and following a successful Kidney transplant in November 2019 is continuing to recover and is keeping well.

​

From July 2018 until September 2018 John was recovering from his first hospital stay at Montana with the Sisters of Grace and Compassion in Great Barton near Bury St Edmunds.

​

From September 2018 to September 2019 John was living in the presbytery at St Edmund’s in Bury St Edmunds and helped out in the parish and schools when was able. John was chaplain to Moreton Hall Prep School from January 2019 to its sad close in June 2019.

​

From September 2019 until October 2020 John has been living next to Montana, in Oakampton House, as part time chaplain at Montana and since August 2020 has been celebrating daily Mass for the community of sisters and residents of Montana and for the residents of Oakampton House in the small chapel at Montana.

In August 2020 John was appointed as Parish Priest of St Felix Parish in Haverhill and as chaplain to St Felix Catholic Primary School.

​

John is interested in sailing, walking, music, buildings and architecture and many other things.