Clergy and laity ‘co-responsible’ for Church, says new Bishop of Plymouth

‘We need to deepen the quality of our listening to the Spirit, to one another, to every generation in the Church – with a special attentiveness to the young, to the poor, to the marginalised.’

Nicholas Hudson, the new Bishop of Plymouth, called for “co-responsible” partnerships of ordained and lay Catholics to evangelise the spiritually hungry, at his installation on 29 November, the feast of St Cuthbert Mayne, at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface, Plymouth.

The Installation Mass was attended by senior clergy, including Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, Apostolic Nuncio to Great Britain, Cardinal Vincent Nichols and Archbishop John Wilson, and other archbishops and bishops from England and Wales.

Parishioners from across Cornwall, Devon and Dorset, priests and deacons of the Diocese of Plymouth, priests from other dioceses and religious orders, ecumenical representatives from other Christian denominations, interfaith leaders, civic dignitaries, diocesan trustees, school leaders from Catholic education institutions, and charity representatives were also in attendance.

It was 448 years since Mayne’s martyrdom on the scaffold at Launceston, Cornwall. Hudson recalled how the priest’s illegal mission to Catholics in the south-west was enabled by the Cornish nobleman, Francis Tregian.

“Tregian paid the price of life imprisonment and the seizure of all his estates. Fr Cuthbert the price of death by hanging, drawing and quartering,” said Hudson in his homily. He added, “Lay and ordained, they knew themselves to share responsibility – with others – for the mission in England’s south-west.”

Hudson, formerly an auxiliary bishop in the Diocese of Westminster, continued: “Of such vital partnerships – the partnership of lay and ordained for mission – Pope St John Paul II coined the term ‘co-responsibility’, following the 1988 Synod on the Laity.”

Hudson identified that “mission” as “more urgent today than ever”. There were “encouraging shoots of recovery,” he said, but also challenges. These include helping converts or Catholic reverts to find a place within the Church and drawing “many more” people to “the life of Christ and the sacraments”.

“The key to knowing how we do it, how we organise ourselves to welcome … is to deepen our listening. Deepen our listening? Yes, that we need to deepen the quality of our listening to the Spirit, to one another, and to our context; our listening to every generation in the Church – but with a special attentiveness to the young, to the poor, to the marginalised, to those who stand on the outside looking in.”

The Apostolic Nuncio, Archbishop Miguel Maury Buendía, brought the papal bull authorising Hudson’s appointment to the Mass. Pope Leo XIV told Hudson the Vatican had “carefully considered your pastoral achievements in the duties you have undertaken in the Archdiocese of Westminster, together with your spiritual and human gifts and your expertise in administration.”

As the eleventh bishop of Plymouth, Hudson is responsible for approximately 11,293 Catholics across 57 parishes and 37 schools in Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. He has chosen In Te Domine Speramus (“In you, O Lord, we hope”) from Psalm 31 as his motto.

Maggie Fergusson, deputy editor of The Tablet, attended the Mass at St Mary and St Boniface’s Cathedral, Plymouth. “Everyone present was aware of the immense challenge Bishop Nick faces but also his incredibly deep and solid faith, which will help him rise to it,” she said.

The Diocese of Plymouth has lacked a bishop for three years. In November 2024, The Tablet reported that the installation of Philip Moger had been delayed after concerns were raised of a “personal nature”. Earlier that year, in February, Canon Christopher Whitehead was due to be installed but that too did not go ahead, in this case to allow a “canonical procedure” to take place. After a preliminary inquiry by the diocese found that no canonical investigation was needed, Canon Whitehead returned to his former parish in Bath.

Stay updated — add us as a preferred news source on Google: