A new Bishop of Arundel and Brighton has been appointed to succeed Kieran Conry, who resigned last September having admitted to being unfaithful to his vow of celibacy.
Pope Francis today named Bishop Richard Moth, currently Bishop of the Forces, to lead the diocese which this year celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Bishop Emeritus Kieran Conry resigned after a newspaper revealed his intimate friendship with a married woman. Although he denied a sexual relationship with that individual he admitted he had had an affair with another woman that lasted six years.
Bishop Moth, 56, will be installed on 28 May in time to celebrate the diocese’s Golden Jubilee Mass which will take place at the Amex Stadium in Brighton, on 5 July.
Alongside his forces role, the bishop is Chairman of Governors at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, the episcopal liaison for prisons and holds a brief on mental health issues for the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales. He is a priest of the Archdiocese of Southwark - where he held senior positions such as vicar general and chancellor - and has been an Oblate of the Order of St Benedict for over 30 years.
Since Bishop Conry’s resignation Arundel and Brighton has been overseen by the Archbishop of Southwark, Peter Smith.
The diocese has 83 parishes, the same number of schools and a weekly Mass attendance of 40,334. Arundel and Brighton includes a large number of religious orders within its territory and there are are 136 diocesan and 97 religious priests, as well as 48 permanent deacons.
Commenting on his appointment, Bishop Moth said: “It is a great privilege to have been appointed by Pope Francis as the new Bishop of Arundel & Brighton and I am very conscious of the trust that has been placed in me. In these last fifty years since the foundation of the Diocese, so much has been done to build up the Church and in the proclamation of the Gospel and, with God’s help, I look to guide and serve the Diocese to that same end. I am especially grateful to Archbishop Peter Smith for all he has done in recent months to support and guide the Diocese.”
He added: “It has been wonderful, over these past five and half years, to work with the chaplains and so many people from the Armed Forces community and all those who serve as members of the Royal Navy, the Army and the Royal Air Force will always have a special place in my thoughts and prayers. I ask for the prayers of the People and Clergy of the Diocese of Arundel & Brighton as I prepare for the years that lie ahead that together we be open to the promptings of the Holy Spirit in the service of Christ and his Church.
Since his resignation Bishop Conry has been living in the episcopal residence in Arundel and Brighton while a safeguarding inquiry into his relationships with potentially vulnerable female adults is conducted.
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