A CONTROVERSIAL Roman Catholic Bishop who once apologised to divorcees shunned by the Church is to step down.

The Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, the Right Reverend Ambrose Griffiths, 75, has told Pope John Paul II he wants to retire after his birthday in December.

Bishop Griffiths, who was appointed 11 years ago, shocked the Church hierarchy when he broke rank to apologise for the Catholic church's treatment of divorcees.

Catholic law brands those who remarry following divorce adulterers, but the bishop told hundreds at a service in St Mary's Cathedral, Newcastle, he was ashamed the Church turned away people who needed help.

Canon Robert Spence, one of the Bishop's four Vicars General, said: "Bishop Ambrose came into the diocese as a great enthusiast.

"He has made himself a Bishop for young people. One of the great things he has done is set up a youth ministry team in the diocese.

"He will be tremendously missed. He has been very youthful despite being nearly 75. "

Born Michael Griffiths in London in 1928, he studied natural sciences at Balliol College, Oxford. After university he joined the Benedictine Community at Ampleforth in North Yorkshire and was given the religious name Ambrose, after the saint who had been Bishop of Milan in the fourth century.

He was sent to the Benedictine House of Sant' Anselmo in Rome where he studied theology and was ordained in 1957.