Challoner, Richard (1691–1781)

English Roman Catholic prelate. He was educated at the English Roman Catholic College, Douai, in France, where he was ordained in 1716 and later, in 1720, appointed vice-president and professor of theology. Sent to London in 1730, he was consecrated titular bishop of Debra in 1741 and appointed coadjutor to Benjamin Petre, vicar apostolic of the London district, whom he succeeded in 1758. Challoner's revision of the Rheims-Douai version of the Bible was published in 1749–50; the 3rd edition, of 1752, became the authorized version for English Roman Catholics.

Challoner was born in Lewes, England. His numerous controversial, devotional, and historical works include The Catholic Christian Instructed (1740), Garden of the Soul (1740), a manual of prayer, Memoirs of Missionary Priests (1741–42), and Britannia Sancta (1745).