Timothy Radcliffe OP joined the English Province of the Dominican Order in 1965, and was ordained a priest in 1971. He studied at Blackfriars and at St John’s College in Oxford, and in Paris. He was a chaplain to the University of London in 1974 – 76, before returning to Oxford, where he taught scripture and doctrine for twelve years. He was Prior of Oxford from 1982 – 88, when he was elected Provincial of the English Province. He was President of the Conference of Major Religious Superiors. In 1992 he was elected Master of the Dominican Order, finishing his term in 2001. He is now an itinerant preacher and lecturer, based at Blackfriars, Oxford, spending half the year traveling. He was a Trustee of the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development for fourteen years and is a patron of ‘Embrace the Middle East’.

He is an Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, Oxford, and Doctor of Divinity hon. causa of Oxford University, Fribourg University and the Pontifical University of St Thomas (Angelicum), and has honorary doctorates from various other universities in France, and the United States. He is the author of ‘Sing a New Song’,  ‘I Call You Friends’, ‘Seven Last Words’, ‘What is the point of being a Christian?’, ed. ‘Just One Year,’ ‘Why go to church? The drama of the Eucharist’, ‘which was commissioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury as his Lent book for 2009, ‘Take the Plunge: living baptism and confirmation’ , ‘The Stations of the Cross’ and most recently ‘Alive in God: a Christian imagination’. He was awarded the Michael Ramsey Prize for theological writing in 2007. He is a Sarum Canon of Salisbury Cathedral and has the freedom of the city of London.