Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of the Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle who has quit almost a decade before he was due to retire, saying the demands of his office were “too great a burden”.
Bishop Robert Byrne announced his resignation “with great sorrow and reluctance” in letters issued at the same time to the people of his diocese and to his brother bishops.
The bishop said he intended to leave Hexham and Newcastle for the Oratorian community in Oxford that he founded in 1990.
Bishop Byrne wrote: “For some time now I have been discerning my future and after much prayer and reflection, it is with a heavy heart that I now find the office of the diocesan bishop has become too great a burden and feel I can no longer serve the people of the diocese in the way I would wish.
“My sincere thanks go to the Holy Father for considering and accepting my resignation as Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.
“Until he announces my successor, the Holy Father has appointed Archbishop Malcolm McMahon as Apostolic Administrator who will oversee the work and governance of the diocese.”
Bishop Byrne continued: “Since my installation as bishop, I have been grateful for the welcome and support of so many clergy and laity across the diocese.
“I now intend to seek new ways to exercise my episcopal ministry to as full an extent as I can and for as long as I am able, and in this, I ask for your prayers for me, as I continue to remember you in mine.”
The Manchester-born bishop is just 66 meaning that ordinarily he would remain a serving bishop until he reached that age of 75 when Canon Law would require his resignation on grounds of age.
A former priest of the Birmingham Oratory and the founder of the Oxford Oratory, Bishop Byrne became the first Oratorian bishop in England since in 140 years when he was appointed as Auxiliary Bishop of Birmingham by Pope Francis in 2014.
In 2019, he succeeded Bishop Seamus Cunningham to become the 14th Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle.
In his letter to the people of the diocese, he said that the Church’s teachings confirmed that a diocesan bishop needed to be “as Christ among the people entrusted to him”.
“The office of bishop carries great responsibility to provide spiritual leadership and governance to the diocese,” he wrote.
“As St John Paul II observed: ‘What does the Lord require of us? What does the Lord require of me?’ I have recently had need to discern and reflect upon this question for myself and the Diocese of Hexham and Newcastle.
“Having done so, and with great sorrow and reluctance, I have concluded that the office of the diocesan bishop has become too great a burden and I feel I must resign from my position as your bishop.
“When, in February 2019, I was asked to accept the privilege of appointment as the 14th Bishop of Hexham and Newcastle, I responded in obedience.
“Then, as now, I was committed to serve you as your Bishop to the best of my ability …. My own discernment has caused me to recognise that I now feel unable to continue serving the people of the diocese in the way that I would wish.
“Having undertaken this discernment process, and with due consultation with others, I indicated my wish to resign to the Holy Father and he has graciously accepted my request.
“I recognise that you will be concerned to know when my successor will be appointed. This is, of course, a matter for the Holy Father.”
(Photo© Mazur/catholicnews.org.uk)