WILL CHICAGO BE NEXT? ARCHBISHOP BROGLIO?
Westminster. Leo XIV chooses Mons. Moth
Vatican City – After yesterday’s announcement of the appointment of the Archbishop of New York, today the Holy See Press Office has communicated a measure of equal significance. Pope Leo XIV, accepting the resignation from the pastoral governance of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Westminster submitted by H.E. Cardinal Vincent Gerard Nichols, has appointed as Metropolitan Archbishop of Westminster H.E. Msgr. Richard Moth, until now Bishop of Arundel and Brighton.
The decision opens a new phase for a see which, by history and ecclesial weight, represents a pivot not only for Londonbut for the whole of British Catholicism: Westminster is not a diocese “like any other”, but the chair from which the metropolitan archbishop leads a community called to face particularly acute pastoral and cultural challenges in the English context.
The resignation of Nichols
With the acceptance of Cardinal Vincent Nichols’ resignation, the Pope formally brings to a close a season that began in 2009, when Nichols was called to Westminster after Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor. Over these years, the archdiocese has gone through delicate passages: internal reorganisation, relations with the public sphere, and a growing focus on institutional accountability. Unlike the Dolan case, Nichols has led the diocese for roughly five additional years beyond the ordinary age envisaged for resignation. With today’s decision, Leo XIV concludes this extension period, in line with what he had also indicated in recent weeks in Assisi, speaking to the Italian bishops.
Richard Moth: canon law, diocesan curia, military service
The appointment of Msgr. Richard Moth brings to Westminster a figure whose curriculum is strongly marked by diocesan governance, juridical competence, and pastoral experience in complex contexts. Born on 8 July 1958 in Chingola (Zambia), he studied at Catholic schools in Kent and received his formation at St John’s Seminary in Wonersh (Surrey), later completing his studies at Saint Paul University in Ottawa, where he obtained a Licentiate in Canon Law. Ordained a priest on 3 July 1982 for the Archdiocese of Southwark, he held posts that outline the profile of a “man of the machine” as well as a pastor: parochial vicar, judge of the Metropolitan Tribunal of First Instance, private secretary to the Archbishop, master of liturgical celebrations, director of the vocations office and vice-chancellor, up to becoming President of the Metropolitan Tribunal of Second Instance. In 2001 he was appointed Vicar General of Southwark and Prelate of Honour; in the following years he also carried out parish governance roles as an administrator in various settings. A decisive turning point came in 2009, with his election as Military Ordinary for Great Britain, with episcopal ordination in September of that same year: an experience that placed him in close contact with the world of the Armed Forces, with its specific pastoral needs and the management of communities “on the move”. In 2015 came his transfer to the see of Arundel and Brighton, which he led until today’s call to Westminster.
d.N.Z.
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