Pope Francis creates new archdiocese in Wales, appoints its first bishop

CNA Newsroom, Sep 13, 2024 / 07:00 am (CNA).

Pope Francis has united two Welsh dioceses to create the new Metropolitan Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, the Vatican announced Sept. 12, the feast of the Holy Name of Mary.

Archbishop Mark O’Toole, who will lead the newly formed archdiocese, emphasized the significance of this date in a pastoral letter on the unification.

“We are immensely grateful to Pope Francis for making this decision and for his inspiring leadership in encouraging us to ‘go outwards’ in mission,” O’Toole wrote.

Archbishop Mark O’Toole. © Mazur/cbcew.org.uk

Invoking the example of Mary, the archbishop called on the faithful to “continue to walk together the path of the Gospel, in open dialogue and faith,” emphasizing the need to deepen their relationship with Jesus and “bear witness to him through our good works.”

The Bishops’ Conference of England Wales welcomed the move on Thursday as a “new chapter for the Catholic community in South Wales and Herefordshire.”

The new Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia covers an area of 4,894 square miles (12,675 square kilometers), serving a Catholic population of 181,115 out of a total population of 2,564,615. According to statistics released by the Vatican, it comprises 112 parishes and is served by 110 priests and 20 permanent deacons.

The three Catholic dioceses in Wales. Credit: self-created, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The creation of the new archdiocese marks the complete merger of previously separate entities under O’Toole’s leadership. Since June 2022, the 61-year-old British prelate had been serving as both the archbishop of Cardiff and the bishop of Menevia “in persona episcopi” — “in the person of the bishop.”

Providential timing

O’Toole, born in Lambeth, London, on June 22, 1963, was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Westminster in 1990. He served as the bishop of Plymouth in southwest England from 2013 to 2022.

In preparation for this unification, the prelate conducted consultations across both dioceses in the first five months of 2024. He attended 42 meetings involving 605 people, both clergy and laity, according to a statement from the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of England and Wales.

O’Toole noted the swift decision from Rome: “We received this decision more quickly than anticipated, which I believe reflects the confidence the Holy See has in the process we have undertaken.”

The archbishop also connected the unification to the upcoming Jubilee Year in his pastoral letter, to be read across the archdiocese on the weekend of Sept. 14–15.

“Providentially, too, this decision on the creation of our new Archdiocese of Cardiff-Menevia, comes as the whole Church prepares for the Jubilee Year, the theme of which is ‘Pilgrims of Hope.’”