Br Stephen is a Franciscan Friar of the Companions of the Cross. Initially as a social worker he worked in child protection and pioneered early recognition of organised, ritual and satanic abuse. Following clinical training in general and forensic psychotherapy, he worked for over 40 years in in prisons, probation, policing and courts. He has also fulfilled a variety of pastoral roles. Throughout the 80’s and 90’s he provided support to the relatives of Irish political prisoners serving sentences in the UK and worked extensively on campaigns for the release of Irish people wrongly imprisoned. He developed and taught the ‘Spirituality of Dying’ course at St Joseph’s Hospice. He was Director of Mission Effectiveness for the Franciscan Missionaries of the Divine Motherhood (FMDM) and for six years provided psychological consultation to the FMDM leadership team. Br Stephen is a specialist in sexual crime and related trauma and has worked extensively with men and women who commit sexual offences and those involved in sex work and the adult industries. For the last seven years, as Operational Lead, he established the partnership response between HMPPS and the Metropolitan Police to address chemsex related crime in the LGBT community. Br Stephen has a weekly ministry of Franciscan presence in Soho and is part of the Medjugorje LGBT mission group in London. He is currently studying Franciscan Spirituality at the– Seriphicum, the Franciscan University in Rome.
“My whole working life has involved me being with those who society so often rejects, deems unredeemable and in so doing places them on the margins. This work has always involved me in speaking for those denied a voice, advocating for their rights, for justice and for healing. I have frequently needed to challenge the powerful institutions of church and state, which often places me on the margins myself. I owe much to all those I work with, for it is they who have taught me much about the sacredness of the human condition. In prisons, police cells, courts, in the bars, clubs and on the streets of Soho, I have witnessed great pain and suffering but equally I have also experienced immense compassion, connectedness, community, a caring and sharing that my church often talks about but on occasions struggles to do. It is this injustice that gets me out of bed each morning. It motivates me to continue to try and bring some love, respect and dignity into the damaged lives that society so easily throws away.”
Br Stephen fcc
