Roman Catholic Bishop of Plymouth
The Bishop of Plymouth is the Ordinary of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth in the Province of Southwark, England.
The diocese covers an area of and consists of the counties of Cornwall, Devon and Dorset. The see is in the City of Plymouth where the bishop's seat is located at the Cathedral Church of Saint Mary and Saint Boniface.
The diocese of Plymouth was one of the dioceses erected on 29 September 1850 from the Vicariate Apostolic of the Western District. The Right Reverend Mark O'Toole, the 9th Bishop of Plymouth, was appointed on 9 November 2013 by Pope Francis. In June 2022, he was translated to both the Archbishopric of Cardiff and the Bishopric of Menevia; the see becoming vacant.
In December 2023, Pope Francis appointed Canon Christopher Whitehead of the Diocese of Clifton to become the 10th Bishop of Plymouth. Bishop-Elect Christopher was to be installed on 22 February 2024. On 1 February, the Bishops of England and Wales announced that his ordination was cancelled, pending a canonical process investigating Canon Whitehead, who stepped down from active ministry during the investigation. Whitehead was subsequently cleared of all charges, and returned to ministry in Clifton. In September 2024, Pope Francis appointed Bishop Philip Moger, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Southwark, to become the 10th Bishop of Plymouth, to be installed on 9 November 2024. On November 6, however, Moger issued an apology stating he intended to postpone his installation until termination of the investigation of personal issued raised. Finally, on 24 February 2025, Bishop Moger announced via the Catholic Bishops Conference of England and Wales that the pope had accepted his resignation from the appointment to the see of Plymouth, as the resolution of ‘concerns of a personal nature’ had ‘taken longer than anticipated’. The Right Reverend Nicholas Hudson was installed as the Bishop of Plymouth at the Cathedral Church of St Mary and St Boniface, Plymouth, on the Patronal Feast Day of St Cuthbert Mayne, Saturday 29 November 2025.