Father Ulick Loring

Fr Ulick was born in St Leonard’s-on-Sea, Sussex in 1946. His family moved to London when he was about two,  His father, James, worked for the John Lewis Partnership and then for the Spastics Society where he was awarded the CBE.  Both Fr Ulick’s parents were converts though he himself was a cradle Catholic. He attended The Oratory School near Reading. He was awarded a BA in History, and an MA in International History from Birkbeck College.  He also worked in the Civil Service for 13 years. In 1981 he was accepted as a student for the Archdiocese of Westminster and he trained at Allen Hall, Chelsea and gained a BD from Heythrop College. He was ordained priest by Cardinal Hume at the Church of Our Lady of Dolours in May 1987.

He worked at Our Lady’s, St John’s Wood (1987-1992), University Chaplaincy, Gower Street (1992-1995),  St Thomas of Canterbury, St Leonards 1995-1996, Holy Redeemer, St Leonard’s 1996-2001, on sabbatical 2001-2002. He has been Parish Priest at St James’s since August 2002. He gained a Diploma in therapeutic counselling from Richmond Adult Education College.

As Parish Priest he began a fundraising project for a children’s centre in Moldova which he visited on a number of occasions; he headed a project to expand the church with a new porch, children’s chapel and a new centre behind the church.  This involved a number of fundraising projects which raised many thousands.  He facilitated a refurbishment of the parish hall which had fallen into a bad state.  He also lead a redecoration project for the Church, and the installation of two new stained glass windows drawing of the parishes’ Portuguese connections. These were designed by the late Caroline Benyon.  This followed the installation of a memorial to King Manuel of Portugal in 2009.

He has written several books and articles including an autobiography, Mission Impossible, which raised funds for the church redevelopment. Apart from creative writing, he is interested in travel, the early railways (he is a descendent of Timothy Hackworth, the railway pioneer), politics, cycling and religious issues.  In May 2012 he celebrated his silver jubilee as a priest.