(LifeSiteNews) — Pope Leo XIV named Bishop Richard Moth to replace Cardinal Vincent Nichols as the next archbishop of Westminster and head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales on Friday.
Archbishop-elect Moth, the current bishop of the Arundel and Brighton diocese, will officially be installed as the 12th archbishop of Westminster on February 14, 2026, the archdiocese announced December 19.
Back in July Moth, who has previously made statements defending the Church’s teaching on assisted suicide and abortion, allegedly told British liberal Democrat MP Chris Coghlan that a priest was wrong to deny him Holy Communion over his vote in favor of the “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)” bill.
READ: British MP says bishop opposes priest’s decision to deny him Communion over assisted suicide vote
Moth, 67, is also known for his advocacy for migrants and has supported the celebration of the Traditional Latin Mass (TLM).
“I am moved greatly by the trust that Pope Leo has placed in me, in appointing me to the Diocese of Westminster,” Moth said following his appointment.
“I am delighted at this news. Archbishop-elect Richard will bring to our Diocese many gifts and considerable episcopal experience from his years of ministry,” Cardinal Nichols said.
Moth’s background
Moth was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 in the Archdiocese of Southfork, serving at various parishes within the archdiocese. Most notably, he served as president of the Interdiocesan Tribunal of Second Instance of Southwark, a marriage annulment court, as well as vocations director from 1992 to 2001.
In 2009 he was appointed Bishop of the Forces by Pope Benedict XVI, serving until his 2015 appointment by Pope Francis to his current position as Bishop of Arundel and Brighton. Moth also serves as chair of the Department for Social Justice of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, the Liaison Bishop for Prisons, on the Standing Committee of the Bishops’ Conference, and as chair of Governors at St. Mary’s University, Twickenham.
Moth has also been an oblate of the Benedictine Pluscarden Abbey in Scotland for over 40 years and is a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem.
Apparent support for MP denied Communion for assisted suicide vote
In July Moth reportedly told Chris Coghlan, the self-described “liberal Catholic” MP for Dorking and Horley, that he disagreed with his parish priest’s decision to bar him from receiving the Eucharist after Coghlan voted in favor of the “Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life)” bill, which would legalize assisted suicide for terminally ill adults.
Just days earlier Father Ian Vane, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Dorking, had publicly announced during his Sunday Masses that Coghlan could not receive Communion because of his vote, which clearly contradicts Catholic teaching on assisted suicide.
“It is not the Church’s position to deny Holy Communion over this,” Moth allegedly told Coghlan. While the details of the private meeting were never disclosed to the public, and Coghlan could be considered an untrustworthy source, the Diocese of Arundel and Brighton never denied the claim.
The diocese reportedly issued a statement amidst the controversy, affirming the Church’s opposition to assisted suicide but also noting the pressures faced by MPs. Before the vote on the bill, Moth had also encouraged the faithful to write to their MPs privately and urge them to vote against it.
READ: New York bishops condemn Gov. Hochul’s assisted suicide bill as ‘grave moral evil’
The Church firmly teaches that support for assisted suicide is gravely immoral. Canon 915 of the Code of Canon Law calls for Holy Communion to be withheld from those who are “obstinately persevering in manifest grave sin.”
Support for large families, migrants, and the TLM
Moth has a long history of advocating for the unborn and promoting the family, having recently lauded the British government’s November decision to end its two-child tax credit cap on universal and child credit payments, stressing that “large families are a blessing.”
“Large families are a blessing rather than a burden. We must consider how, in a variety of ways, we can support the flourishing of families, which are necessary to secure the future of our society,” the bishop said in a statement.
As with most bishops appointed by Leo, Moth has shown staunch support for migrants. In May, the bishop celebrated a special “Mass for Migrants,” which was offered to “celebrate how our diocesan community has been enriched by migration.”
Just this week, Moth co-wrote a statement on the “true nature of Catholic Witness and Worship at Christmas,” which noted that the Holy Family traveled to Egypt as refugees and called on the faithful to empathize with those who enter for their own safety.
READ: Catholic parish refuses to take down anti-ICE Nativity scene despite bishop’s orders
While Catholics should empathize with refugees forced to flee their home country, the bishops fail to make any distinction between legitimate refugees and illegal immigrants. It’s also worth noting that the Holy Family did not violate any laws when they fled to Egypt, and they returned to Israel once an angel appeared to St. Joseph telling him it was safe.
Moth has shown support for the TLM, allowing its celebration to continue in his diocese following the promulgation of Traditionis Custodes.
Heterodoxy of his predecessor
Cardinal Nichols, the 80-year-old outgoing archbishop of Westminster, has a long history of contradicting the Church’s teaching on homosexuality. Nichols has celebrated multiple LGBT Masses and even appointed the dissident “LGBT+ Catholics Westminster” ministry.
This organization’s site displays a prayer written by openly homosexual Catholic priest Bernárd J. Lynch, who states on his blog, “I am married to my husband Billy since 1998.” The pro-LGBT ministry’s site also strikingly omits any mention of the Church’s teaching on same-sex “marriage” or gender ideology.
