Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Right Reverend Nicholas Hudson as the new Bishop of Plymouth, ending a three year wait for the diocese to have a permanent leader.
Bishop Hudson, 66, has served as an Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster since 2014 and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Southwark in 1986.
He will officially take over on 29 November 2025 at a special installation service at St Mary and St Boniface Cathedral in Stonehouse.
Plymouth has been without a Catholic bishop since 2022 after two previous appointments fell through. Canon Christopher Whitehead stepped aside in 2023 following an inquiry, and Bishop Philip Moger withdrew last year for personal reasons.
On hearing of his appointment, Bishop Hudson, Bishop-elect of Plymouth said:
“I am deeply grateful to Pope Leo XIV for appointing me; and I do not take lightly the trust he has placed in me. I am aware how long the clergy, religious and laity of Plymouth Diocese have waited for a bishop. I come with a desire to listen and to learn.
"I hope we can apply all the strengths of synodality to discern together ways to deepen the diocese’s outreach, mission and presence to the people of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset.
"I look forward greatly to meeting all who belong to the diocese. I ask their prayers for me as I prepare to be their bishop – as I most surely pray for them.”
Cardinal Vincent Nichols said the appointment was “most welcome news”, describing Bishop Hudson as someone who will serve Plymouth “with generosity and sensitivity”.
Canon Paul Cummins, who has been leading the diocese in the interim, called the announcement “an answer to our prayers”.
Bishop Hudson was born in Hammersmith, studied at Cambridge and trained for the priesthood in Rome. He has held leadership roles in education, youth ministry and international church affairs.
Plymouth’s Catholic community now looks to 29 November when Bishop Nicholas Hudson will be installed at St Mary and St Boniface Cathedral, marking the start of a new chapter after a long wait for a permanent bishop.
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