A priest is marking 50 years of service.
Father Phil Sumner has spent 25 of those years in Oldham, where he has played an important role in promoting community cohesion, interfaith dialogue, and racial justice.
Before moving to Oldham, Father Sumner spent 25 years serving in Moss Side and Hulme, Manchester, where he became known for his community work during and after the Moss Side riots of 1981.
He worked to improve relations between police and the African Caribbean communities and was recognised as a Paul Harris Fellow by Rotary International in 2001.
He moved to Oldham after the 2001 riots at the request of his bishop and helped establish the Oldham Interfaith Forum, which remains central to building cohesion in the borough.
In 2006, he won individual and overall awards for diversity and equality from the Oldham Race Equality Partnership, the only time these awards were ever given.
He was also named among the top 50 British "campaigners, thinkers and givers transforming our world" by The Independent newspaper.
Father Sumner has lectured internationally on intercultural mediation, including in Barcelona and Brazil for UNESCO.
He has twice appeared as a witness on BBC 4's The Moral Maze.
In 2025, he received a Mayor’s Appreciation Award from the Mayor of Oldham and was elected vice-chair of the Catholic Association for Racial Justice.
He has also served as chaplain to the Manchester Chinese Catholic Community for more than 25 years and leads a monthly service in Cantonese.
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To mark his golden jubilee, a Mass will be held at 2.30pm on June 13.
A reception will follow at Oldham Athletic Football Club at 4pm.
For more information about the celebrations, contact 07976 230919.
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