Peter Smith

Who is Peter Smith?

Peter David Smith is an English prelate of the Roman Catholic Church, currently the Metropolitan Archbishop of Southwark. From 2001 to 2010 he was the Metropolitan Archbishop of Cardiff.

Born in Battersea, Smith studied at Clapham College and at Exeter University. He then undertook studies for the priesthood at St. John's Seminary in Wonersh and the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He was ordained to the priesthood on 5 July 1972. After doing pastoral work from 1972 to 1974, Smith began teaching canon law at his alma mater, St John's Seminary, in 1977. He then served as a curate in Thornton Heath and as the rector of St John's Seminary.

On 21 March 1995, Smith was appointed Bishop of East Anglia by Pope John Paul II. He received his episcopal consecration on the following 21 May from Cardinal Basil Hume OSB, with Archbishop Michael George Bowen and Bishop Alan Charles Clark serving as co-consecrators. Smith was later named Archbishop of Cardiff on 26 October 2001, following the resignation of the Capuchin, John Ward, amid a controversy about paedophile priests in the archdiocese. In regard to these sexual abuse cases, Smith declared that he "wanted to help people bind up the wounds and bring healing". He also voiced his opposition to living wills in 2004, fearing that "a proxy could make a decision to do away with someone for the motive of killing someone".