THE abbot of Quarr Abbey from 1996 to 2008, Dom Cuthbert Johnson, has died in Sunderland, aged 71.
Abbot Cuthbert was born in Hebburn in 1946, where his father was a welder in a shipyard.
While attending St John’s College, Southsea, he came into contact with Quarr Abbey and entered the novitiate in September 1964.
He made his monastic vows in 1966 and, after ordination to the priesthood in 1973, he began his lifelong interest in liturgical theology and practice with studies in Rome.
In 1983, he was appointed to a position in the Roman Curia, where he continued to work until his election as fourth abbot of Quarr in 1996.
Abbot Cuthbert was responsible for significant improvements in public access to the church and pilgrim chapel — he opened a substantial area of the monastic gardens and the teashop.
Abbot Cuthbert had great interest in the Island and also served as chairman of Fishbourne Parish Council.
After 12 years as abbot, Dom Cuthbert resigned, and after some brief convent chaplaincies, he was appointed to serve a parish in the diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.
When his health deteriorated, he was admitted to a nursing home, where the brethren of Quarr visited him.