Pope Leo XIV has appointed Bishop Richard Moth as the new Archbishop of Westminster.

The Bishop of Arundel and Brighton succeeds Cardinal Vincent Nichols, the president of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, who has held the office since 2009 and who turned 80 in November.

Zambia-born Archbishop-elect Moth, 67, will be installed in Westminster Cathedral as the 12th archbishop on Saturday February 14 next year.

“I am moved greatly by the trust that Pope Leo has placed in me,” said Archbishop-elect Moth. “My first task will be to get to know the priests and people of Westminster and I look forward, now, to serving them.”

The Rt Rev. Mark Davies, the Bishop of Shrewsbury, appealed for prayers for the archbishop-elect from the faithful of the Diocese of Shrewsbury. Bishop Davies said: “I ask your prayers for Bishop Richard Moth as he accepts the call of Pope Leo to become the new Archbishop of Westminster.”

Archbishop-elect Moth was born in Chingola but brought up in Kent. He was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Southwark in July 1982. Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Arundel and Brighton in 2015. He is also Chair of Governors at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, London, and the bishops’ liaison for prisons.

(Photo © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk)