Bishop Mark Jabalé OSB, retired Bishop of Menevia and a former Abbot of Belmont, died peacefully on the evening of Friday, 9 May 2025. He was 91 years old.
Archbishop Mark O’Toole, Archbishop of Cardiff-Menevia, paid tribute to Bishop Jabalé:
“He gave unstinting service to the Church over many years and I know many will mourn his passing. I offer our sympathy and sincere gratitude to the Abbot and community at Belmont for their kindness and fraternal care of Bishop Mark in these latter years.
“It was touching to see how ‘at home’ he had become there, and I am grateful to God to have witnessed his serenity of spirit and to have been in receipt of his wise counsel.
“We pray that he will quickly enter into an eternal face to face relationship with the Lord whom he served so well.”
Born in Alessandria, Egypt, in 1933, Bishop Jabalé was ordained to the priesthood in July 1958.
A Benedictine monk, part of the community at Belmont Abbey, he served as headmaster of the school attached to the monastery from 1969 until 1983.
During this time, he developed a particular interest in rowing. For several years he coached the Oxford University crew for the Boat Race and was entrusted with the lightweight coxless four for Great Britain which won a Gold medal at the World Championships in 1979.
In 1983, he was sent to Peru to build the monastery of the Incarnation in Sullana in the north of the country, which Belmont was founding, before returning to Herefordshire in 1986 to be appointed first Prior and then Abbot of Belmont.
Pope Saint John Paul II appointed Abbot Jabalé Coadjutor Bishop of Menevia, South Wales, on 7 December 2000. He was installed as Bishop on 12 June 2001.
Six months after his retirement, in March 2009, he was Inducted as Parish Priest of Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire, by Archbishop Vincent Nichols, then Archbishop of Birmingham. The Archbishop said it was “very rare” for a retired bishop to be inducted as a parish priest.
He had been gently cared for by the community at Belmont in his latter years and died peacefully on Friday, 9 May 2025. May he rest in peace.
Please pray for the repose of the soul and eternal happiness of the Rt. Rev. Dom Mark Jabalé, tenth Bishop of Menevia and tenth Abbot of Belmont. He died peacefully on 9 May 2025 in the 92nd year of his life, the 73rd year of his monastic life, and the 67th year of his priesthood. May he rest in peace. Amen.
With thanks to the Belmont community.
