A RETIRED Bishop of Salford who welcomed the Pope to Manchester has died at the age of 91.

The Rt Rev Thomas Holland retired in 1983 and lived at Nazareth House in Scholes Lane, Prestwich. He had been suffering from cancer and died at North Manchester General Hospital on Thursday, September 30.

He was born in 1908 in Southport and began his studies for the priesthood at Liverpool Diocesan Seminary in Wigan. He completed them at the English College in Valladolid, Spain, where he gained a doctorate in philosophy and was ordained as a priest in 1933 in Southport.

In 1943 he became a chaplain to the Royal Navy and took part in the Normandy Landings the following year, winning the Distinguished Service Cross. He also served in Ceylon and was a port chaplain in Bombay until 1948.

The Rt Rev Holland consistently campaigned against abortion and pornography and worked to promote marriage and family life. In 1980 he was awarded an honorary Degree by Salford University.

His personal interests included music, reading and sailing and his memoirs For Better and For Worse were published in 1989.

A requiem Mass will take place at noon today, October 8, at St John's Cathedral, Salford, followed by burial in the cathedral.

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