In his opening remarks at the annual Chrism Mass at Leeds Cathedral on Wednesday 16 April, Bishop Marcus told the assembled clergy and congregation that the date marked the 75th anniversary of the ordination of a former Leeds priest now living in retirement in the Diocese of Hallam, and that he was offering Mass for his intentions. Fr Leonard May was twenty-four years of age when he was ordained at St Anne’s Cathedral on 16 April 1950, having studied for the priesthood at Ushaw College in County Durham.
Fr May was one of seven priests ordained at the Cathedral on the same day. The other six have all now died, the most recent being Fr Bernard Battle, who died in 2021.
Fr May’s first appointment in 1950 was to the parish of St Joseph, Batley Carr. He subsequently served in parishes in Barnsley, Birstall, Hebden Bridge and Sheffield. In 1971 he became the Parish Priest of St Mary Magdalen, Maltby in South Yorkshire. He thus became a priest of the Diocese of Hallam when the diocese was created in 1980.
Fr May now lives in retirement in Rotherham, and on 24 November 2025 he will celebrate his 100th birthday.
Warmest congratulations are extended to Fr May along with a deep sense of gratitude to him for his three quarters of a century of priestly service to the Church in Yorkshire, in the Diocese of Leeds and the Diocese of Hallam.
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