Reginald Michael Cawcutt (25 October 1938 – 5 August 2022) was a South African Roman Catholic prelate.


Reginald Cawcutt
Auxiliary Bishop of Cape Town
Appointed29 May 1992
Term ended17 July 2002
Other post(s)Titular Bishop of Egabro (1992–2022)
Orders
Ordination9 July 1962
by Owen McCann
Consecration26 August 1992
by Lawrence Patrick Henry
Personal details
Born(1938-10-25)25 October 1938
Died22 March 2022(2022-03-22) (aged 83)
Cape Town, South Africa

Cawcutt was born in Rugby, Western Cape. His father, Wilfred, was a well-known horse trainer. He studied for the priesthood at St John Vianney Seminary in Pretoria and was ordained by Archbishop Owen McCann on 9 July 1962. Soon after his ordination, he became chaplain to the deaf community of Cape Town, serving in both of Cape Town's two Catholic institutions for the hearing-impaired. In 1966, he made a three-day pastoral visit to the remote island of Tristan de Cunha, where he administered the sacraments to the small Catholic community of 50, which rarely saw a priest. For many years he served as Catholic chaplain to the South African navy. [1]

He served as auxiliary bishop of Egabro and as Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Cape Town, South Africa, from 1992 until his retirement in 2002. As auxiliary bishop, he would live in Milnerton, a suburb on the Table Bay coast, near where he had been raised.[2]

Cawcutt resigned in July 2002. This followed allegations that he had outed himself as gay on a sometimes-sexually charged website set up for gay priests. Cawcutt blamed the scandal on the conservative U.S.-based organization Roman Catholic Faithful, which had infiltrated the now closed website (which had been known as "St. Sebastian's Angels") and traced posting addresses. In his letter of resignation, Cawcutt stated that he did not wish to be a source of division in the Archdiocese.[3][4]

References

edit
  1. ^ Obituary, scross.co.za. Accessed 7 August 2022.
  2. ^ "Bishop Reginald Michael Cawcutt". www.catholic-hierarchy.org. Retrieved 8 August 2022.
  3. ^ "Bishop resigns amid scandal *The Record* July 25 2002 p 12". Archived from the original on 21 August 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2009.
  4. ^ Obituary, scross.co.za. Accessed 7 August 2022.
Catholic Church titles
Preceded by
Auxiliary Bishop of Cape Town
1992–2002
Succeeded by
Preceded by Titular Bishop of Egabro
1992–2022
Succeeded by
Ramón Darío Valdivia Giménez 2023-