Scottish Catholic Observer

Rev David Skillen, a permanent deacon from the Diocese of Lancaster, last week became the first Permanent Deacon to be commissioned as a Chaplain in the Royal Air Force.

Rev Skillen was commissioned following training at RAF Cranwell as part of a specialist entrants course for a wide variety of people including Salvation Army and Presbyterian Chaplains, doctors and a lawyer.

Rev Skillen, a former police officer and teacher, has been posted as Catholic Chaplain to Royal Air Force Brize Norton in Oxfordshire.

Fr James Caulfield, principal Catholic Chaplain to the RAF, said he was very proud of Rev Skillen’s appointment.

“We desperately need more priests as Chaplains in the RAF but there is a great deal that a deacon can offer in provision of pastoral support to service personnel and their families,” he said.

Rev Skillen will be going to RAF Brize Norton, the hub of the transport fleet and home of the RAF Aeromedical team and the site of the repatriation ceremonies. He has previous work as a policeman and in prison chaplaincy.

Bishop Richard Moth, Bishop of the Forces, said Rev Skillen’s commissioning is good news for the Bishopric of the Forces. “It will help us to explore new possibilities for chaplaincy,” he said. “Given his experience, I am sure Deacon David will bring much to his role and I ask everyone in our RAF community especially to keep him and his family in prayer as he begins his new ministry.”

Rev Skillen graduated from RAF Cranwell on Thursday June 19 as the first Deacon to be commissioned for chaplaincy in the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom.  From the Diocese of Lancaster, he served in the police before being ordained to the permanent Diaconate and working in school chaplaincy.  Having successfully completed Officer Training, he begins his new ministry at RAF Brize Norton.

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Pic: After graduation from RAF Cranwell, Rev (Flt LT) David Skillen receives his Faculty as a Chaplain from Fr James Caulfield.