Highlights
- Pope Leo XIV appoints Bishop Richard Moth as Archbishop of Westminster
- Moth to succeed Cardinal Vincent Nichols on February 14
- Appointment comes amid leadership changes in the global Catholic Church
- Moth signals caution on reports of a rise in Catholic numbers in the UK
POPE LEO XIV has appointed Bishop Richard Moth as the new Archbishop of Westminster, the senior Catholic post in England and Wales, the church said on Friday.
Moth, 67, will take over from Cardinal Vincent Nichols on February 14. Nichols has led the church’s estimated 3.8 million Catholics in the two nations for 16 years and turned 80 last month.
Nichols faced criticism in the later years of his tenure after a 2020 report examined longstanding allegations of child sex abuse within the Catholic Church.
The report said Nichols had "seemingly put the reputation of the church" above his duty to victims and showed "no acknowledgement of any personal responsibility to lead or influence change".
The announcement came a day after the Vatican said Leo had accepted the resignation of New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan, marking a shift in the church’s leadership in the United States.
Dolan was replaced by Ronald Hicks, a pro-migrant bishop from Chicago, the pope’s hometown.
At a London press conference attended by both Moth and Nichols, the archbishop-elect said he was "pinching myself" and "massively grateful" to Leo for the appointment.
"I think we're at an interesting moment in the life of the church in this country," Moth said, referring to Britain’s second-largest Christian denomination after Anglicanism.
"We do speak about a quiet revival," he said, referring to reports of rising Catholic numbers in the UK. "I would say I'm quietly cautious."
On the UK’s immigration debate, Moth said he would "continue to remind society that everybody, wherever they come from, has something that they contribute".
Addressing the church’s handling of sex abuse cases, he said it would remain "committed" to safeguarding and said victims would be able to meet him.
"I certainly am, and certainly committed to offering that opportunity to survivors," he said.
Moth was born in Zambia in 1958 and raised in Kent in southeast England. He previously held senior positions in the Southwark diocese and was ordained bishop of the armed forces in 2009.
He has served as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton since 2015 and has chaired the church’s social justice department while also acting as liaison bishop for prisons.
Nichols described Moth as someone of "many gifts and considerable episcopal experience".
