We warmly welcome Deacon Patrick Van der Vorst to our parish who is on a 5 week placement from Rome…
I was born in Bruges, Belgium, in 1971. I attended for eight years a Benedictine boarding school near Ghent and graduated at the Catholic University of Louvain in 1995 (Masters in Law). That same year I moved to London. Always wanting to work in the art world, I started my career at Sotheby’s Billingshurst in 1996, transferred to Bond Street, working in the impressionist and contemporary art departments, and then moved into the furniture department. At age 31 I became a director of Sotheby’s. During those I helped organise sales for Elton John’s London home, the Easton Neston Sale, Thurn & Taxis, the Duke of Windsor Collection, Pele, etc…
At the age of 39 I left Sotheby’s to set up my own company, ValueMyStuff.com an online art & antique valuation company. In 2011 I appeared on Dragons’ Den and secured a substantial investment from Deborah Meaden and Theo Paphitis. The idea was to try and put the business in front of as many eyes as possible. In the ten days following the airing of the episode, the website had over 2 million hits. But my thirst to serve Our Lord fully for the rest of my life never went away. After discernment, I sold my company with its half a million customers in 2018 and started seminary training for the Diocese of Westminster in 2019.
On 15th of June 2022 I was ordained a deacon at the Basilica San Paolo Fuori le Mura, literally over the tomb of Saint Paul. It was a magnificent and powerful moment. So many graces received.
I write a daily art blog on Christian Art where we send out daily emails, listing the Gospel text for the day, alongside a work of art that is relevant to the reading, accompanied by a short reflection. The website has currently 42,000 subscribers.
When I left in 2019 to start seminary in Rome, one friend wrote ’Good luck Patrick, you will now move from believing in art, to the art of believing’; another friend wrote a card saying that I was now about to exchange the ‘auction pulpit’ for a ‘church pulpit’… all true statements… and what a beautiful journey it has been, and continues to be!