Pope Leo XIV Appoints Bishop Nicholas Hudson as Bishop of Plymouth
London, 21 October 2025 — His Holiness Pope Leo XIV has appointed the Right Reverend Nicholas Hudson, Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster, as the new Bishop of Plymouth, restoring episcopal leadership to one of England’s most geographically extensive dioceses after a vacancy of more than three years.
Bishop Hudson, a priest of the Archdiocese of Southwark since 1986 and Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster since 2014, succeeds Archbishop Mark O’Toole, who was translated to Cardiff and Menevia in 2022. The appointment was formally announced in the Vatican’s daily Bollettino and confirmed by the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.
A shepherd who listens and learns
Responding to the announcement, Bishop-elect Hudson expressed gratitude and humility before the task entrusted to him by the Holy Father:
“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, Archbishop of Westminster and President of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales, welcomed the appointment with characteristic warmth:
“For the Diocese of Plymouth, the appointment of Bishop Nicholas Hudson to be their bishop is most welcome news. Bishop Hudson will serve the Diocese of Plymouth with great generosity and sensitivity, bringing to that leadership his wide experience of the Church both at home and abroad.
I congratulate Bishop Nicholas on this appointment. He is eager to get started! Here in Westminster, we will miss him very much indeed. I thank him for the true service he has given to the people, the parishes, the priests and to his fellow bishops during his years with us. I assure him of our prayers, support and profound good wishes for his new and important ministry in Plymouth.”¹
Early life and priestly formation
Nicholas Gilbert Erskine Hudson was born on 14 February 1959 in Wimbledon, London, the fourth of five boys. His father, Richard Hudson, taught English at King’s College School, Wimbledon, for nearly four decades; his mother, Marie-Charlotte Valdelièvre, was French, from Paris.² His upbringing combined the discipline of English Catholic education with a strong sense of European culture — a synthesis that would later mark his pastoral outlook.
Educated at Wimbledon College (1966–1977), a Jesuit grammar school, he went on to read History at Jesus College, Cambridge, before discerning a priestly vocation. In 1981 he entered the Venerable English College in Rome, where he completed degrees in philosophy and theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University, including a Licentiate in Dogmatic Theology.³
He was ordained to the priesthood on 19 July 1986 for the Archdiocese of Southwark by Archbishop Michael Bowen. His first appointment was as assistant priest at St Thomas of Canterbury, Canterbury (1987–1991), where he was noted for his pastoral zeal and his gift for teaching.⁴
After postgraduate studies in catechetics at the Catholic University of Louvain, he became Director of the Southwark Christian Education Centre in 1992, where for eight years he guided catechetical programmes, youth evangelisation, and parish formation initiatives across one of the largest dioceses in England.⁵
Leadership in formation and service in Rome
In 2000, Fr Hudson returned to the Eternal City as Vice-Rector of the Venerable English College, later serving as Rector from 2004 to 2013. During this period, he oversaw the formation of future priests from England and Wales, modernised the College’s spiritual and academic programme, and deepened its relationship with the wider Roman Curia.⁶ His decade in this role gave him a profound sense of the universal Church — a perspective that has shaped his later episcopal ministry.
After returning to London as Parish Priest of the Sacred Heart, Wimbledon, he was appointed by Pope Francis as Auxiliary Bishop of Westminster and Titular Bishop of St Germans on 31 March 2014, receiving episcopal consecration on 4 June that year from Cardinal Vincent Nichols.⁷
As Auxiliary Bishop, Hudson was entrusted with pastoral oversight of Central and East London, including the deaneries of Camden, Hackney, Islington, Marylebone, Tower Hamlets, and Westminster. He also chaired the Department for International Affairs of the Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales and served as Moderator of the Holy Land Coordination Group, which supports the Christian presence in the Middle East. He was further appointed as observer to the Commission of the Bishops’ Conferences of the European Union (COMECE) and became known for his diplomatic sensitivity and careful theological articulation.⁸
In 2023 he was named by the Holy See as a Papal Nominee to the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, reflecting both his international stature and his pastoral emphasis on listening, collaboration, and evangelisation.⁹
A bishop for the South-West
The Diocese of Plymouth, covering the counties of Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset, is one of England’s most geographically vast but least densely populated dioceses, encompassing both seaside towns and deeply rural parishes. It has long faced challenges of distance, demographic change, and declining vocations. Hudson’s appointment therefore comes at a time of both opportunity and difficulty, as the Church in the South-West seeks renewal in evangelisation and catechesis.
Bishop Hudson’s background in formation, catechetics, and seminary governance positions him to foster what he himself calls “the strengths of synodality” — building a culture of communion, consultation, and mission. Yet he inherits a diocese where resources are thinly stretched, clergy are ageing, and the faithful are scattered. His leadership will need to balance pastoral warmth with strategic vision, combining prayerful presence among the people with reform of structures that can sustain long-term growth.
It is anticipated that his first year will include a listening tour across the diocese, renewed attention to vocations, and initiatives in youth evangelisation and lay formation. He is expected to take canonical possession of the diocese on 29 November 2025 at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface, Plymouth.
Editorial reflection: a call to apostolic fidelity
From the Old Roman perspective, episcopal appointments under Pope Leo XIV have revealed a renewed desire for pastoral leadership marked by humility and engagement, yet always within the horizon of apostolic tradition. Bishop Hudson’s emphasis on “listening and learning” accords with the language of the synodal age — but listening, rightly understood, is not the suspension of truth; it is the disposition of the shepherd who hears the voice of the flock in order to lead it faithfully to Christ.
Every bishop is called to be more than a manager of structures or a moderator of conversation. He is pontifex — a bridge between God and man — whose duty is to teach, sanctify, and govern in communion with the See of Peter. His success will not be measured by policy or popularity, but by fidelity to the Gospel, renewal of sacramental life, and the conversion of souls.
The Diocese of Plymouth, with its ancient Catholic roots stretching back to the missionary monks of St Petroc and St Samson, awaits a shepherd who will unite contemplation with action, tradition with missionary zeal. In Bishop Hudson’s appointment, the Church in the South-West is offered a man of formation, intellect, and gentle discipline — one capable of restoring confidence and reawakening faith where secularism has numbed it.
The Old Roman Apostolate prays that Bishop Hudson will lead with the heart of a father, the wisdom of a teacher, and the courage of a confessor — and that, in his ministry, the people of Cornwall, Devon, and Dorset may rediscover the joy of belonging to Christ’s one true Church.
¹ Archdiocese of Westminster, Press Release, 21 Oct 2025
² Clifton Diocese News Service, 21 Oct 2025
³ Press Office of the Holy See, Bollettino 251021a
⁴ Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales (CBCEW)
⁵ Southwark Christian Education Centre Archives, 1992–2000
⁶ COMECE Profile of Bishop Hudson
⁷ Press Office of the Holy See, Bollettino 310314a
⁸ CBCEW Department for International Affairs, 2022 Report
⁹ Synod of Bishops Nominee List, 2023
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