St Mary’s College Oscott CIO is a registered charity (charity number: 1172979). It operates the Roman Catholic Seminary of the Archdiocese of Birmingham at Oscott College, for the education of men in Holy Orders (Priesthood and Permanent Diaconate). The CIO also maintains the College building and grounds and operates a Catholic Cemetery.
Our governing document, The St Mary’s College Oscott CIO Constitution, can be found here.
Please pray for those who govern and guide our work.
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Archbishop Bernard Longley was installed as the 9th Archbishop of Birmingham in 2009, having been an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster since 2003. He previously studied at Xaverian College and the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester and New College, Oxford. He was ordained to the priesthood for the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton in 1981 at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh. From 1987 to 1996 he was on the staff at St John’s Seminary, Wonersh, teaching dogmatic theology. Archbishop Bernard sits on the Formation Committee, and the Heritage Committee
Bishop David Evans studied for the priesthood at the Venerable English College in Rome and was awarded a licentiate in philosophy and theology from the Pontifical Gregorian University.He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Birmingham in 1978, and subsequent roles included being a formator and vice-rector at Saint Mary’s College, Oscott, Birmingham (1983-2001). Since 2019, he has served as the Episcopal Vicar for Birmingham and Worcester. Bishop David sits on the Formation Committee.
Matt is a professional fundraiser with 25 years’ experience working for local and national charities, including the Catholic Bishops’ Conference and Coventry University. He was educated at St Edmund’s College, Ware and Portsmouth Polytechnic where he studied Social Policy. Between 1986-90 he was an elected member of Portsmouth City Council serving on a variety of committees, including Planning Services. Over the following 12 years he led several multi-million-pound regeneration programmes for Coventry City Council targeting the most disadvantaged areas of the City and advising a series of inter-agency partnership boards. In his voluntary work he has assisted the “Catholics in Fundraising” National Group, supported the Cancer Vaccines’ Charitable Trust and helped various school PTA’s. He currently works for the pregnancy support charity Life. Matt serves on the Development Committee.
Ana Fouto has 20 years of experience as a nurse, working within different roles, including education in the clinical sector and Universities, and across different settings, privately and in the NHS. She directed Master modules with Chester University and worked closely with Keele and Staffordshire Universities within her education nursing roles. With academic qualifications in Research and Education, Ana currently works at University Hospitals of Derbyshire and Burton NHS Foundation Trust as a Deputy Divisional Nurse Director. Her interests are education, research and governance. Ana sits on the Legal, Compliance and Governance Committee.
Chris was educated at St Mary’s College, Crosby before going on to study law at Lanchester Polytechnic. He qualified as a solicitor in 1981, spent 26 years in private practice, and has an LLM in law and employment relations from the University of Leicester. In 2007 Chris was appointed as a full-time Judge specialising in employment law and sitting primarily in the Employment Tribunal in Birmingham. Chris is also an Immigration Judge hearing immigration and asylum appeals in London. Recently he gained his MA in Catholic Applied Theology from the Maryvale Institute. Chris is a member of the HR & Remuneration Committee, and the Legal, Compliance and Governance Committee.
John completed his Law Degree at Staffordshire University and was admitted to the Law Society in 2001. John is a practising Solicitor specialising in contract, land and agricultural law. John was previously a primary school governor for 10 years and became a Fellow of the Agricultural Law Association in 2016. John is chair of the Legal and Compliance Committee.
Andrew is a Chartered Surveyor (Fellow), Deputy Lieutenant for Worcestershire, and the former owner of Andrew Grant Estate Agency business in the West Midlands, including Country Houses, Commercial Property and one-time Fine Art Auctions. He holds a wide range of positions with local and national heritage and community charities. He is a previous High Sheriff of Herefordshire and Worcestershire and is a former Governor and now Patron of St Richard’s Hospice. He is honorary Vice President of Worcestershire Red Cross, Knight of British and Military Sovereign Order of Malta, and member of the board of the Country Land & Business Association. Andrew is chair of the Development Committee and sits on the Investment Committee.
Graham principally worked for British Gas in a variety of managerial and service delivery roles, and recently retired from the role of Welfare Officer at BG. He served for 12 Years as an elected member of Birmingham City Council where he served on the Finance and Management, Social Services and Education Committees. Graham is also Governor of a number of education establishments covering all levels of provision from Primary and Special Needs to Secondary and College. I have recently stood down from 11 Years as a member of the Board of Birmingham Community Health Council Trust. He is also a part time department manager at Aston Villa and a member of his local cluster Parish Council. Graham sits on the Finance and Maintenance Committee at Oscott.
Janet Mellor has a life-long career in education, teaching German and French in secondary schools. She directed the post-graduate course in teacher training at the Maryvale Institute. As a school governor and Catholic schools inspector she retains her involvement in Catholic education. Her interests include religious art, and she has co-edited research on convert clergy with which she has had personal involvement through her late husband. Janet is chair of the Heritage Committee, and sits on the Formation Committee.
Bernard has extensive experience in general management and in Human Resources leadership from a 40 year career in Financial Services, the Public Sector and in Barnardo’s children’s charity. He holds an MBA from Warwick Business School and also a Masters Degree in Contemporary Theology through study at Newman College (now Birmingham Newman University). Since 2019 Bernard has been a Board Director at Lumen Christi Multi-Academy Company in Birmingham.Bernard sits on the HR & Remuneration committee, and the Legal Compliance and Governance Committee.
Michael is a Chartered Accountant who trained with Deloitte Haskins & Sells in Liverpool in the 1980s. A fluent speaker of French and Italian, he has many years' experience as a finance director in a range of businesses across the UK and Europe. He was educated at St Augustine's Grammar School, Manchester and Durham University. He was a school governor from 2006 to 2022 and has served on the board of trustees of a major pension fund. Since 2021 he has been a trustee and the treasurer of Friends of the Holy Land CIO, a Warwickshire-based aid charity. Michael is Chair of the Audit, Finance & Maintenance Committee and the Investment Committee. He also sits on the HR & Remuneration Committee.
Father Craig was ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Birmingham in 2011, following formation at St Mary’s College, Oscott and the Royal English College of Saint Alban in Valladolid. In 2021 he was appointed as the Diocesan Vocation Director and Director for the Ongoing Formation of Clergy, roles in which he continues to serve. He is also the Director of Music within the Seminary. Prior to this, he was Parish Priest in Codsall and Tettenhall in Wolverhampton, and Quinton in Birmingham. He sits on the Formation Committee.
Bishop Richard trained for the Priesthood at St Mary’s College, Oscott, and the Venerable English College, Rome, and was ordained in 2000. He earned his Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology from the Gregorian University, Rome. From 2003-2014 he was a member of the Formation Staff at St Mary’s College, Oscott, for the majority of which time he was Vice Rector. As well as serving the Archdiocese of Birmingham as a parish priest, he most recently was appointed Vicar General and a Trustee of the Archdiocese in 2020. Bishop Richard is Chair of the Formation Committee and sits on the Legal Compliance and Governance Committee.