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With the Jubilarians who gathered at Arundel Cathedral on 12 June to celebrate their 25th, 40th and 50th anniversaries of ordination was also Fr Chris Benyon, celebrating an amazing 60 years of priesthood, having been ordained priest on 12 June 1965.

To mark this milestone, Fr Chris was interviewed on Monday by Radio Maria , telling presenter Paul Danon about his childhood, vocation story, formation at the seminary at Wonersh, and life as a priest both in parishes and teaching at Wonersh. He also shared his musical favourites, including Suzanne Toolan's I am the Bread of Life. He told Paul that "the Lord Jesus wants to reach out though us and touch the world about us with his life and love" and that, although many things had changed during his 60 years of priesthood,

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"One thing has not changed at all, and that is that people want to love and be loved. That hasn't changed at all of any age, any person in any state: People want to love and be loved."

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Celebrations also took place at St Thomas More, Seaford, on Sunday, and schools with which Fr Chris works also marked the occasion, including with a celebratory cake and balloons at Annecy Catholic Primary School in Seaford.

At Cardinal Newman Catholic School, Hove, pupils arranged messages and videos of thanks for his service to their school, with those thanks echoed later in Mass in the chapel, attended by family, friends and school leaders from across Sussex, who all gave thanks for his great service to their communities. Fr Chris spoke of the joy of his ministry and thanked all present for being part of his journey as a priest.

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Ad multos annos, Fr Chris!